Liberty Media Ups DIRECTV Stake

ENGLEWOOD, April 3:
Liberty Media has increased its ownership stake in the leading U.S. satellite
platform DIRECTV to more than 48 percent, with the acquisition of a further
78.3 million common shares.

Liberty first secured the
stake in the platform via a deal with News Corporation that was completed in
February. Liberty Media exchanged its 16.3-percent interest in News Corp. for a
41-percent stake in DIRECTV, regional sports networks in Denver, Pittsburgh and
Seattle and $465 million in cash.

To fund the purchase of
additional shares, Liberty borrowed $1.98 billion against a newly exec uted
equity collar on 110 million DIRECTV common shares. The equity collar is a
series of puts and calls with maturities ranging up to 4.4 years.

"These transactions
reaffirm our belief in DIRECTV, the quality of its service, and the performance
of Chase Carey and his management team," said Greg Maffei, Liberty's
president and CEO. "The additional shares and equity collar each increase
our exposure to DIRECTV's equity and further align Liberty's interests with
those of the DIRECTV shareholders."

—By Mansha Daswani