Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone said it may make sense to buy out the public shareholders in Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and HSN Inc., two companies in which Liberty has stakes.
Taking Live Nation private would give the concert and ticketing company a chance to clean up operations out of public spotlight, Malone told reporters in Sun Valley, Idaho. Liberty is Live Nation’s largest shareholder, with a 22 percent stake.
“It would probably be nice for it to be private for a period of time, to settle down,” said Malone, “to get everything working smoothly, having predictable financial outcomes.”
Malone, through Douglas County-based Liberty, has taken stakes in businesses from the home-shopping service HSN and Sirius XM Radio Inc. to the Atlanta Braves baseball team. In May, Liberty offered $17 a share to take bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. private.
Malone said much of the recent dealmaking is being driven by Gregory Maffei, Liberty’s chief executive, who has had strong returns on deals such as Sirius XM.
“Maffei is batting 1,000,” Malone said in the interview. “Even the Braves are doing well. So if Maffei says, ‘Do it,’ you write a check.”
Standing nearby, Maffei said the Barnes & Noble deal will depend on what a board committee says about Liberty’s offer.
“What happens next is up to the special committee,” he said.
Live Nation rose 75 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $12.26 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading. The stock has added 7.4 percent this year. HSN climbed $1.27, or 3.8 percent, to $35 on the Nasdaq Stock Market and has gained 14 percent this year.
Malone said that a deal for Live Nation could be difficult financially. “Could we afford it? It may be a little out of reach right now,” he said. “Between here and getting it done is a pretty major financial challenge.”
