Liberty Media Gets OK for Joint Control of UnitedGlobalCom

The European Commission approved plans Wednesday by U.S. cable TV firm Liberty Media to acquire joint control of United-GlobalCom (UGC), parent of Dutch cable operator UPC. Under the deal, Liberty Media would inject $1.4 billion into UGC, which then would use $894.5 million to buy a UPC rights issue. Clearance by the European Union watchdog helps ease funding concerns for the heavily leveraged Pan-European cable company. Most analysts say the cash from Liberty would be enough to fund UPC through 2002. UPC shares, which had been 3% lower before the announcement, closed 11.7% higher.