DOJ OKS LIBERTY'S BID TO UP iHEART STAKE

Liberty Media, John Malone’s sprawling media empire, is now poised to become even more powerful. On 7/15, the DOJ approved Liberty’s request to increase its stake in iHeartMedia, presently at 5%, to as much as 50%.

Liberty own 71% of SiriusXM/Pandora and 33% of Live Nation.

In June 2018, Liberty withdrew its bid to buy 40% of iHeart for $1.16 billion, claiming it had withdrawn the offer because the radio giant had declined in value since making the offer earlier in the year. But CEO Greg Maffei, who had spearheaded the effort, told the Bible, “We didn’t get it done, but you’ll be pragmatic and opportunistic about ‘maybe it’ll get done in the future.’”

It’s unclear when Liberty plans to make the move or what percentage of iHeart it’s looking to own. But So a major hurdle to that outcome has now been cleared away by the feds.