The Wall Street Journal reports that Liberty Media is seeking DOJ approval to increase its stake in iHeartMedia and potentially acquiring a controlling interest or the entire company outright.
Liberty, through its Liberty SiriusXM Group subsidiary, currently holds a 4.8% stake in iHeartMedia. The Journal states that Liberty hasn’t decided what kind of deal, if any, it would make should it receive permission from the DOJ to combine iHeartMedia under the same holding company as SiriusXM and Pandora. Liberty also owns the Atlanta Braves and Formula One Group. Its 33% stake in Live Nation is held under the Formula One Group holding company.
Liberty is the single largest shareholder in iHeartMedia since the company exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018. During the bankruptcy proceedings, Liberty proposed acquiring 40% of iHeartMedia through a $1.159 billion that was later rescinded.