Liberty Media Corporation Announces Receipt of Private Letter Ruling Relating to Split-Off
2009年10月27日 - 10:25PM
PRニュース・ワイアー (英語)
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Liberty Media
Corporation ("Liberty Media")
(NASDAQ:LCAPANASDAQ:LCAPBNASDAQ:LINTANASDAQ:LINTBNASDAQ:LMDIANASDAQ:
LMDIB) announced today that it has received a private letter ruling
from the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") relating to the tax
treatment of the split-off of Liberty Entertainment, Inc. ("LEI"),
a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media, from Liberty Media (the
"Split-Off"). The private letter ruling, which satisfies a
condition to the completion of the Split-Off and the business
combination with The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (the "DTV Business
Combination") provides to the effect that (i) the Split-Off will
qualify as a tax-free transaction under sections 355 and
368(a)(1)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, (ii)
no gain or loss will be recognized by Liberty Media upon the
distribution of LEI common stock, and (iii) no gain or loss will be
recognized by, and no amount will be included in the income of,
holders of Liberty Entertainment common stock upon the exchange of
shares of Liberty Entertainment common stock for shares of LEI
common stock (except with respect to cash received in lieu of
fractional shares). While generally binding upon the IRS, the
private letter ruling is subject to certain caveats and there are
certain limitations in relying upon private letter rulings. These
caveats and limitations are described in Liberty Media's definitive
proxy statement/prospectus relating to the special meeting of
holders of Liberty Entertainment common stock to be held in
connection with the Split-Off, and filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC"). As indicated in our prior press
releases, if the proposal relating to the Split-Off receives the
requisite stockholder approval at the special meeting, then,
assuming all other conditions to the Split-Off are satisfied or
waived, Liberty Media will redeem, pursuant to its charter, 90% of
the outstanding shares of Liberty Entertainment common stock in
exchange for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of LEI
promptly following the special meeting. However, the Split-Off may
not be completed prior to the first to occur of the satisfaction of
the conditions to the DTV Business Combination between LEI and The
DIRECTV Group, Inc (other than those which may only be satisfied at
closing) or the termination of the related Merger Agreement.
Questions relating to the transactions described above should be
directed to Liberty Media's information agent : D.F. King &
Co., Inc., 48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor, NY, NY 10005, Tel. No. (800)
628-8532 (Banks and Brokerage Firms call (212) 259-5550).
Additional Information Nothing in this press release shall
constitute a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell shares of LEI,
any of the Liberty Media tracking stocks or shares of the new
company to be issued pursuant to the Merger Agreement with DIRECTV.
The offer and sale of shares in the proposed Split-Off and the DTV
Business Combination will only be made pursuant to the effective
registration statements on file with the SEC. Liberty Media
stockholders and other investors are urged to read the effective
registration statements, including the definitive proxy
statement/prospectuses contained therein, because they contain
important information about these transactions. Copies of the
effective registration statements and the definitive proxy
statement/prospectuses are available free of charge at the SEC's
website (http://www.sec.gov/). Copies of the filings together with
the materials incorporated by reference therein can also be
obtained, without charge, by directing a request to Liberty Media
Corporation, 12300 Liberty Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112,
Attention: Investor Relations, Telephone: (720) 875-5408.
Participants in a Solicitation The directors and executive officers
of Liberty Media and other persons may be deemed to be participants
in the solicitation of proxies in respect of proposals to approve
the transactions. Information regarding the directors and executive
officers of each of Liberty Media, LEI and the new DIRECTV and
other participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of
their respective direct and indirect interests, by security
holdings or otherwise are available in the definitive proxy
materials filed with the SEC. About Liberty Media Corporation
Liberty Media owns interests in a broad range of electronic
retailing, media, communications and entertainment businesses.
Those interests are attributed to three tracking stock groups: (1)
the Liberty Interactive group (NASDAQ:LINTANASDAQ:LINTB), which
includes Liberty Media's interests in QVC, Provide Commerce,
Backcountry.com, BUYSEASONS, Bodybuilding.com, IAC/InterActiveCorp,
and Expedia, (2) the Liberty Entertainment group (NASDAQ:
LMDIANASDAQ:LMDIB), which includes Liberty Media 's interests in
The DIRECTV Group, Inc., Starz Entertainment, Game Show Network,
LLC, WildBlue Communications, Inc., and Liberty Sports Holdings
LLC, and (3) the Liberty Capital group (NASDAQ:LCAPANASDAQ:LCAPB),
which includes all businesses, assets and liabilities not
attributed to the Interactive group or the Entertainment group
including its subsidiaries Starz Media, LLC, Atlanta National
League Baseball Club, Inc., and TruePosition, Inc., Liberty Media's
interest in SIRIUS XM Radio, Inc., and minority equity investments
in Time Warner, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint Nextel Corporation.
DATASOURCE: Liberty Media Corporation CONTACT: Courtnee Ulrich,
+1-720-875-5420, for Liberty Media Corporation Web Site:
http://www.libertymedia.com/
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