Street signals approval of Liberty-News deal

December 08, 2006 Wall Street observers Thursday largely gave a thumbs-up to the expected terms of a deal between Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and John Malone's Liberty Media, with many suggesting that the transaction could boost both companies' shares. Liberty is expected to swap its stake in News Corp., valued at about $11 billion, for News Corp.'s 39% stake in satellite TV giant DirecTV Group, about $550 million in cash and three regional sports networks valued at about the same amount, according to the New York Times and several Wall Street people. Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen estimated that the deal could be 7% accretive to News Corp.'s earnings in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

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