Liberty near sale of News Corp. stake

News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch said Wednesday that the company was close to a deal to buy back Liberty Media’s stake in the media giant and would probably drop its “poison pill” anti-takeover measure if the two sides agreed on terms.

Murdoch, speaking to shareholders in Adelaide, the company’s former base, said negotiations with John Malone’s Liberty Media Holding Corp. were still underway, but a deal was “very likely.”

Murdoch, the Australian-born chairman and chief executive of the global media company, said News Corp. expected to buy Liberty’s stake in a large but “practically cashless” transaction.

The two sides have been talking about swapping Liberty’s 19% voting stake for one or more assets, possibly News Corp.’s 38% interest in DirecTV Group Inc., the El Segundo-based satellite broadcaster.

John Orr, a spokesman for Englewood, Colo.-based Liberty Media, declined to comment.