Liberty to offer QVC stake to Comcast

Liberty Media yesterday announced plans to exercise an option likely to trigger the sale of QVC, the home shopping channel and inviting speculation that it is building a war chest for further acquisitions.

Liberty, run by media investor John Malone, has given notice of its intent to sell its stake to partner, Comcast, a US cable network. The companies have 30 days to reach deal on the value of QVC at which point Comcast has to either make an offer for Liberty's stake or put the channel on the market.

If Comcast declines to make an offer, Liberty would have first option over its share. Liberty's 42% stake could raise between $6.5bn (£4.1bn) and $9.5bn.

Liberty could use the cash to pay for any number of media assets which are likely to be sold in the near future, as media conglomerates attempt to reduce debts. It could also choose to buy the rest of QVC - Comcast is under pressure over its balance sheet and is thought unlikely to pay up for Liberty's share.

Liberty has already signalled a possible bid for Hughes Electronics, owner of the US satellite TV network DirecTV - setting Mr Malone in opposition to News Corporation.

Mr Malone is also interested in a possible bid for the US media assets of Vivendi, including the Universal movie studio, alongside Hollywood mogul Barry Diller.

Mike Erickson, head of investor relations at Liberty, said the decision to exercise the QVC option was unrelated to acquisition plans. "We don't need to raise cash. We have liquidity of $10bn, including $3bn in cash, which is enough to do all of the things we are interested in. This was a small window that we had in the shareholders' agreement. If Comcast doesn't buy it then we could do it."