Liberty Closes Ascent Tender
By MIKE FARRELL -- Multichannel News, 4/2/2000 8:00:00 PM
Liberty Media Group said last week that it completed its tender offer for Ascent Entertainment Group Inc., with about 85 percent of Ascent shareholders agreeing to sell their stock.
Liberty had agreed to pay $15.25 per share for Ascent-a deal that was worth about $460 million, not including the assumption of $295 million in Ascent debt. With the completion of the tender offer, Liberty expects to close the deal in the second quarter.
Ascent owns a 57 percent stake in hotel pay-per-view service On Command Corp. The company also owns the National Basketball Association' s Denver Nuggets and the National Hockey League' s Colorado Avalanche, as well as the arena where the two teams play, the Pepsi Center.
Liberty first made an offer for Ascent in October-for $514 million-but that deal was scrapped after a separate deal to sell Ascent' s sports assets fell through. Liberty returned with a lower offer in late February that included the sports teams.
Although Liberty still has to find a buyer for the sports assets, the main catalyst for the Ascent deal was its ownership stake in On Command. It is believed that with Liberty' s vast content assets, On Command could become a sort of testing ground for future interactive and bundled services.
In an unrelated deal, Liberty said it has agreed to pay about $130 million for a 10 percent stake in telecommunications carrier IDT Corp. Liberty will buy about 3.8 million shares of IDT common stock at $34.50 each.
"From a personal perspective, I am excited, as [Liberty chairman] John Malone has always been high on my list of heroes," IDT chairman Howard Jonas said in a prepared statement. From a personal perspective, I am excited, as [Liberty chairman] John Malone has always been high on my list of heroes," IDT chairman Howard Jonas said in a prepared statement.
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