Viacom Says It Will Buy Rest of Infinity
Viacom Inc., the world’s third-largest media company, said it will buy the shares of Infinity Broadcasting Corp. it doesn’t already own for about $40 a share in stock to capture about $1 billion in cash from Infinity.
Infinity is the second-largest U.S. radio group and home to the Howard Stern and Don Imus radio shows.
Viacom said it will purchase the 36% of Infinity held by the public for $15.5 billion, exchanging 0.564 share of Viacom’s Class B common stock for each Infinity share. The price represents a 14% premium to Monday’s closing price for Infinity.
Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone and President Mel Karmazin have said for several months that they may buy back Infinity because they believe the stock is undervalued in the public markets.
Infinity shares rose $4.13 to close at $39.38 and Viacom’s Class B shares dropped $1.63 to close at $69.38, both on the New York Stock Exchange.
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