While no deal has yet to be filed, the Department of Justice has approved Liberty Media’s request to expand its ownership in iHeartMedia from 5% to up to 50%.
Liberty is already iHeartMedia’s largest individual shareholder with a 4.8% stake held by their SiriusXM Group. Liberty sought conditional approval in December seeking DOJ approval to increase its stake in iHeartMedia potentially acquiring a controlling interest or the entire company outright. The December Wall Street Journal report stated that Liberty hadn’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 Media’s SiriusXM Group owns 71% of SiriusXM, 33% of LiveNation, 5% of iHeartMedia and also holds stakes in Liberty’s Formula One and Atlanta Braves holding companies.
During iHeartMedia’s 2018 bankruptcy proceedings, Liberty proposed acquiring 40% of the company for $1.159 billion.
Politico reports that iHeartMedia spokesperson Wendy Goldberg confirmed the Justice Department’s approval and referred further comment to Liberty Media.