• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

UPDATE 2-Liberty Media's Malone to pay $1.4 million fine

Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:33pm EDT

Stocks

   

* Malone pays $1.4 mln fine for antitrust violation

* Malone failed to disclose 2005 Discovery share purchase

* Cable pioneer also made purchases in 2008 (Adds FTC detail, comment)

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Liberty Media Corp (LINTA.O) Chairman John Malone has agreed to pay a $1.4 million fine to settle charges that he failed to file for antitrust approval to buy Discovery Holding Company shares, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

According to the complaint, cable TV pioneer Malone failed to make required disclosures to antitrust enforcers when he bought the securities but informed them about the purchases on June 12, 2008 and then, during a waiting period, bought more shares two days later, according to the FTC and Justice Department.

"Although Mr. Malone may have inadvertently failed to file at the appropriate time for his 2005 purchases of Discovery shares, once he made a corrective filing in June 2008, he was required to observe the waiting period before acquiring any more shares," said Marian Bruno, deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, in a news release.

Under antitrust law, the FTC and Justice Department scrutinize proposed deals to ensure that they conform to antitrust law. The FTC filed its complaint in the settlement with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which must approve the settlement.

Liberty owns QVC, the TV home shopping network. Malone has an array of stakes and investments in a range of other media and telecommunications assets including satellite TV provider DirecTV Group (DTV.O) and pay-TV channel Starz Entertainment.

Liberty Media also agreed to lend $530 million to Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI.O) in exchange for a 40 percent equity stake, saving the debt-laden satellite radio provider from possible bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang, Bernard Orr)



More from Reuters

Photo

Democrats gain 60th vote on health bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats reached a compromise on Saturday with the last holdout senator that secured the 60 votes they need to pass a broad healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama.

A woman shops at a Sam's Club store, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, in Bentonville, Arkansas June 4, 2009. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

The food-stamp economy

On the last day of every month, shoppers at Walmart load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. Is this the new normal in America?  Full Article 

Two men shake hands in a file photo.    REUTERS/File

Let's make a deal

The battered M&A sector will make a tepid recovery in the coming year and three hot sectors will lead the way, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis.  Full Article