Liberty Is Eyeing News Corp. Channel

Liberty Media Corp. may seek to buy the National Geographic Channel and is closing in on a deal to sell a voting stake back to News Corp., Liberty Chairman John Malone said Thursday.

Whether the two deals are linked or separate is yet to be determined. Malone said a deal would have to be part of a cash transaction.

News Corp. owns about 67% of the National Geographic Channel’s U.S. operations and 50% of the international subsidiary, according to its 2004 annual report.

The National Geographic Channel is known for its documentaries on wildlife and ancient civilizations.

A News Corp. spokesman declined to comment.

Malone spooked News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch after Liberty Media quietly amassed a voting stake of about 18% of News Corp. outstanding shares late last year.

Fearing threats of a hostile takeover, News Corp. moved quickly to block Malone and within days enacted a poison pill that would make an attempt prohibitively expensive.

Since then, Murdoch has held discussions to buy back Malone’s stake and is likely to reach a conclusion by the end of this quarter, Murdoch said last week.

“We’re converging on a solution,” Malone told analysts and investors at Liberty’s annual meeting in New York on Thursday. “We have a couple of theories we are moving forward on.”

Malone, who has often publicly praised the Murdoch family’s management, gave scant details on the discussions. But he said Liberty would be interested in the National Geographic Channel.

A deal to buy the channel would require the approval of the National Geographic Society, a nonprofit group. The society’s for-profit arm National Geographic Ventures holds a minority stake in the cable network.

Representatives of the National Geographic Channel could not be reached for comment.