Liberty Completes Starz Spin-Off

ENGLEWOOD, CO (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Liberty Media has completed their previously announced spin-off of the Starz Entertainment into its own publicaly traded company.

Following the spin, Liberty's core assets include the Atlanta National League Baseball Club (The Braves) and TruePosition Inc., as well as major equity stakes in SiriusXM Radio and Live Nation. Liberty also maintains minority holdings in public companies such as Barnes & Noble, Inc., Time Warner Inc., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Viacom Inc.

As a result of the Spin-Off, Christopher Albrecht, Irving Azoff, Derek Chang, Susan Lyne, Jeffrey Sagansky, Daniel Sanchez, Charles Tanabe and Robert Wiesenthal joined the board of directors of Starz, following the resignation of all of the former Liberty Media Corporation directors (other than Gregory Maffei, who remains a director of Starz). Liberty's board of directors currently consists of all of the directors who previously served on the board of directors of the former Liberty Media Corporation prior to the spin: John Malone, Gregory Maffei, Robert Bennett, Donne Fisher, Ian Gilchrist, Evan Malone, David Rapley, Larry Romrell and Andrea Wong.

Post spin off, most analysts view Starz as a potential acquisition target. Macquarie's Amy Yong said in a research note that a acquisition by large media company could help improve Starz' margins by "more extensive distribution, producing more content hours" and by commanding "higher rates in affiliate negotiations." – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers