Cable-TV Company Offers to Purchase Rest of UAE Stock
- Share via
DENVER — Tele-Communications Inc. said Wednesday that it offered to buy the remaining 46% of United Artists Entertainment Co. shares it does not own in a deal that would be worth more than $1 billion.
The transaction would consolidate two of the nation’s biggest cable-TV system operators--TCI ranks first with about 8.5 million basic subscribers, including UAE’s 2.7-million.
In a letter to the UAE board, TCI President and Chief Executive John C. Malone said the proposed merger would eliminate the added costs of maintaining UAE as a separate public company.
UAE spokesman John Neal said the company could not comment on specifics of the proposal yet.
The deal calls for 65 million shares of UAE stock to be converted to TCI shares. The swap involves trading each share of UAE stock for 0.95 share of TCI stock.
TCI stock closed at $15.75 per share in over-the-counter trading Wednesday, down 25 cents. At that price, the stock swap would be worth about $972 million.
TCI also agreed to buy the rights to 30.4 million shares of TCI securities held by UAE stockholders.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
