News Corp. OKs Share Buyback

News Corp. has approved the repurchase of up to $3 billion of its shares, a sign that a deal to buy Liberty Media Corp.’s roughly $8.4-billion News Corp. stake may not be close at hand.

Top executives at the New York-based media conglomerate have said a buyback wouldn’t be prudent as long as the company is negotiating with John Malone’s Liberty Media to buy at least part of its 18% voting stake in News Corp.

“This announcement would seem to indicate that negotiations have stalled,” said Jessica Reif Cohen, an analyst with Merrill Lynch.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said during a conference call in May that he expected to reach a deal with Liberty by August, saying the parties were at a “very sensitive point in our negotiations.”

News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher said the share buyback plan “has nothing to do with Liberty. This is about our stock being undervalued.” He declined to say whether talks with Liberty had reached an impasse.

Liberty Media had no comment.