LMCA to Raise Stake in Live Nation

The sudden exit of Irving Azoff, chairman and famous music manager of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. ( LYV - Snapshot Report ) , has helped Liberty Media Corp. ( LMCA - Analyst Report ) to increase its stake in the company by 90 basis points to 26.4%.

Irving Azoff, the former chairman of Live Nation Entertainment sold 1.7 million shares out of 3 million, which he had till December 21, 2012.

Before Azoff became the chairman of Live Nation, he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ticketmaster. Later in 2010 when Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation, Azoff became the executive chairman and the very next year he was promoted to chairman of the company.

Few days back, Liberty Media bought additional 1.88 million shares of SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. ( SIRI - Analyst Report ) , hence extending its stake to 49.77% from 48.1%. Moreover, the company also invested $204 million to purchase preferred stock of one of the leading bookseller of the world Barnes & Noble, Inc. ( BKS - Snapshot Report ) , which can be converted into approximately 12 million shares of the latter.

In the recently concluded quarter, the company reported 2,943 million of cash and cash equivalents and $541 million of debt. Such solid cash position and reduced debt has encouraged Liberty Media to continuously raise its stake in other firms.

We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Liberty Media. Currently, it holds a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) on the stock.

Englewood, Colorado-based Liberty Media Corporation owns interests in a broad range of businesses, including media, communications and entertainment.