Liberty Media intends to gain more shares of SiriusXM in order to gain control of the company, according to reports from the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal.
Liberty has been buying more shares of the satellite radio company, we’ve reported.
Now in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Liberty reveals it intends to convert half of the preferred stock it owns in Sirius into common shares, which would give the company 32% of the common stock, according to the accounts.
Liberty now owns preferred stock convertible into 40% of Sirius shares.
The media investment company had asked the FCC to declare that Liberty had “de facto” control of SiriusXM; the FCC declined, saying Liberty hadn’t taken concrete steps to gain control.
Liberty has since raised its effective stake in the satellite radio company to 46.2% and has now asked the commission to reconsider its decision and declare that Liberty controls SiriusXM.
The reports say that Liberty says in the SEC filing it intends to nominate more people for election to the SiriusXM board so that it would have a majority; currently Liberty has five of 13 board members.
SiriusXM has opposed the takeover attempt; WSJ reports the satcaster didn’t respond to a request for comment.
