Nov 5 (Reuters) – Formula 1-owner Liberty Media said on Thursday it reduced the voting power of entities related to billionaire John Malone to about 3% from roughly 48%, in a move that will also see him step down from the chairman emeritus role.
Shares of the company rose 9%. Cable TV pioneer Malone will remain as a senior adviser, Liberty Media said.
• The company acquired all of the high-vote Series B common shares held by the entities, known as the Malone Holders, in exchange for shares of its low-vote Series A and non-voting Series C common stock
• The transaction followed unsolicited offers from third parties for the Series B shares
• Liberty Media said the Malone Holders had owned about 2.3 million Series B shares, representing about 97% of the outstanding shares of that class
• The transaction eliminates the possibility of a transfer of the Malone Holders’ voting power to a third party and better aligns Malone’s voting power with his economic ownership of Liberty Media, the company said
• No single shareholder owns more than 9% of the company’s voting power now, it said
• “The Transaction allows me to increase my economic ownership of Liberty Media while distributing voting power more broadly among Liberty Media’s other shareholders,” Malone said
• Liberty Media also adopted a shareholder rights plan to reduce the likelihood of any entity accumulating significant voting power without board review
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
