Cable TV pioneer John Malone will pay $1.4 million to settle charges that he violated federal reporting regulations in acquiring shares of cable programmer Discovery Holding Co.
The settlement, subject to approval by a federal judge, would resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.
Malone is founder and chairman of Douglas County- based Liberty Media, which owns or has major stakes in DirecTV, Starz Entertainment, Ticketmaster, QVC home-shopping channel and Expedia.
The lawsuit alleges that Malone twice violated reporting regulations — first by failing to make a disclosure filing in 2005 when he bought Discovery Holding shares, then in 2008 by buying more shares without observing a required waiting period after making a corrective filing disclosing the first investment.
The federal agencies said Malone’s actions violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.
The law is “well known to companies and individuals making acquisitions,” Marian Bruno, deputy director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “The significant civil penalties imposed here should reinforce the need to fully comply with the act, including observing the waiting period.”
A Liberty Media spokeswoman said that neither the company nor Malone would comment on the settlement.
Discovery Holding was created in 2005 when Liberty spun off its ownership stake in Discovery Communications Inc., the operator of cable TV’s Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Malone was chairman and chief executive of Discovery Holding, which no longer exists. Malone’s current ownership in Discovery Communications’ most actively traded share class is worth about $70 million. He controls about 23 percent of the voting shares.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
