FORBES
Liberty Media increases stake in ACTV
By Charles Dubow
NEW YORK. 01:15PM EST—It must be nice being John Malone. Not only is he respected by everyone in the cable and communications industry but he and his new company Liberty Media Group (nyse: LMGa, LMGb) are also sitting on a mountain of cash from AT&T's (nyse: T) multibillion-dollar purchase of his old company, Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI).
In recent weeks Malone has been consolidating his position as a leader in digital television by investing in such companies as News Corp. (nyse: NWS) as well as by taking a 20% position in set-top maker General Instrument (nyse: GIC). This morning it announced it was buying a 25% stake in ACTV (nasdaq: IATV). ACTV has proprietary programming technology for an interactive digital television platform as well as an Internet-television convergence play called HyperTV.
In September 1998 Liberty made an initial investment of $5 million in
ACTV and announced the formation of a joint venture between the two companies to develop applications for ACTV's technology. Today's investment gives ACTV an additional $9 million in exchange for new options in ACTV that, if fully exercised within five years, could
be worth as much as $100 million, according to ACTV's president, David Reese.
The two companies' relationship is a friendly one. Liberty Media
already has a deal with TCI Music (nasdaq: TUNE) to provide Liberty's
Internet and television assets in exchange for stock and for a TCI
Music name change to Liberty Digital. ACTV has also been collaborating with TCI Music on its The Box Music Network by using its digital programming technology. Including Liberty, ACTV also has relationships with such companies as AT&T, General Instrument, News Corps.'s Fox Sports division, Scientific-Atlanta (nyse: SFA), Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: SUNW) and TV Guide Networks (nasdaq:TVGIA).
Liberty Media's main area of expertise and investment has been in globally branded entertainment networks such as Discovery Channel, QVC, USA and STARZ!, as well as iVillage and Priceline. But the key to leapfrogging over the competition is to ensure that Liberty not only controls the content but also gets a sizable cut of the e-commerce pie as well. By locking up ACTV, Liberty has the next generation of digital interactive set-top boxes.
"This is the most synergistic relationship that I could have thought
of," said David Reese, president and COO of ACTV. "We're already in
the set-top boxes, and Liberty gives us the chance to expand our
content play."
The question at this point is, of course, which lucky company will Malone invest in next. |
