Liberty Media Sells iHeartMedia Stake
• John Malone‘s Liberty Media is exiting the terrestrial radio business, selling its entire stake in iHeartMedia.
According to an iHeartMedia SEC filing, and as reported by Variety, Liberty Media offloaded its 5.94 million shares of Class A common stock in an open market block trade in a sale worth upwards of $150 million. You may recall that between November 2017 and February 2018, Liberty Media purchased $600 million of iHeartMedia debt for a total of $490 million. After iHeartRadio reduced its debt load through a bankruptcy settlement, those bonds were converted into about 6.9 million shares.
“We appreciate Liberty’s support for iHeartMedia, originally as a holder of debt which then converted into a meaningful equity stake, and we are delighted that they received a good return on their investment,” a spokesperson for iHeartMedia told Variety.
Despite its divestiture of iHeartMedia holdings, Liberty Media continues to hold 78% of SiriusXM satellite radio and 32% of concert promoter Live Nation. The company grouped its three investments, including its previous stake in iHeartMedia, as Liberty SiriusXM Group, a tracking stock that trades on the Nasdaq.
