(UPDATED) Liberty Media has increased its stake in concert and ticketing giant Live Nation, fueling speculation that the privately owned media conglomerate may be contemplating a buyout of the now public promoter-giant. In an SEC filing on Thursday, Live Nation reported that Liberty Media had acquired 9,500,000 shares in the company, approximately 10% of their outstanding common stock, giving Liberty approximately a 35% stake in the company.
Liberty was flush with cash after a recent court judgment to the tune of $965 million against Vivendi after claiming to have been misled by the health of the company when Liberty sold a stake in USA Networks in exchange for a Vivendi stock.
While talking to press outside of Duchin Lounge at the Sun Valley Resort on Wednesday evening, Liberty Media's John Malone said that he believed Live Nation should be a private company, the New York Times reported. "You’re talking about rock musicians; this is not my kind of thing,” Malone added. "I don’t like a business where the assets go up and down on elevators. I like them to be fixed, hung on poles or up in space going around." – from CelebrityAccess
