Liberty Media chairman John Ma lone “would love to have” former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner involved with the baseball team, should Liberty acquire it from Time Warner.
“We have a long history with Ted,” Malone said after Liberty’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday morning. “We would love to have him involved. If for nothing else, he’s great at a party.”
Phillip Evans, a spokesman for Turner Enterprises, said Turner hasn’t been contacted by Liberty.
“There have not been any discussions about his involvement with the Braves organization if the team sold,” Evans said.
Turner, the founder of CNN, ceded ownership of the team in 1996 when he sold Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner. He stepped down from Time Warner’s board of directors this year.
Although speculation has circulated that Douglas County-based Liberty is near a deal to acquire the Braves from Time Warner in an asset swap, Malone would not provide details Tuesday. He said, however, that Liberty is interested in the Braves.
“We have a strong affection for the Braves,” he said. “Major League Baseball has been a great business and a great investment for people who have invested in it for many years.”
The value of the Braves has ranged from $299 million in 1998 to $424 million in 2002 and is currently $405 million, according to Forbes magazine.
Malone said Liberty would make “every effort for continuity” should the company acquire the team.
Liberty owns a 4 percent stake in New York-based Time Warner, worth about $3 billion. Time Warner, in an effort to regain some of its stock from Liberty, has been talking with Liberty about swapping its stock for cash and assets. Liberty is interested in the Braves mainly as a way to defer taxes.
Liberty is also in discussions to sell its 50 percent stake in Court TV to Time Warner. Greg Maffei, Liberty president and chief executive, said Time Warner has several assets that would be attractive to Liberty.
“But the thing is finding some assets that Time Warner would be a seller of,” he said.
“They’re not in the business of giving away value,” Malone said.
Also at the meeting:
Liberty shareholders voted to approve a proposal that would create two tracking stocks – Liberty Interactive and Liberty Capital – allowing investors to buy into separate parts of the company.
Malone said there was frustration “in the lack of stock performance” among Liberty analysts and shareholders.
In creating the division of assets, Liberty “would be able to identify where the market is undervaluing our stock,” Malone said.
Assets under Liberty Interactive include Provide Commerce and QVC. Liberty Capital would include Starz Entertainment Group LLC and On Command Corp.
Malone said he wants to maintain his flexibility when it comes to Liberty’s News Corp. holdings, and an existing poison pill designed to ward off takeovers limits that flexibility. Liberty owns 18 percent of News Corp. voting stock, and the poison pill was put in place as Liberty’s holdings grew.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
