Tuesday, June 20, 2000
It’s Official: Liberty Media Buys, Renames Todd-AO
Following a year of negotiations, Liberty Media Group has acquired controlling interest in Todd-AO Corp. Under the terms of a deal struck Friday, the media post-production company has been renamed Liberty Livewire Corp. in order to reflect a focus on the Internet.
Immediately following the transaction, Liberty Media contributed to Liberty all the capital stock of Four Media Company, which Liberty Media acquired in April. Each issued and outstanding share of Todd-AO common stock was converted into the right to receive 0.4 of a share of Liberty Livewire’s class A common stock and 0.5 of a share of Class A Liberty Media Group Common Stock, after giving effect to Liberty Media’s 2-for-1 stock split on June 9.
Commenting on the announcement, Salah M. Hassanein, president and chief executive officer of Todd-AO, said in a written statement, “The management considers this transaction to be in the best interest of the stockholders, both in the short and long term, and we believe that the future management of the company is in very strong hands.”
David Beddow, chief executive officer of Liberty Livewire, stated, “Friday’s closings mark our initial steps in building a dynamic company to service the post-production and distribution needs of a wide array of media clients, including motion pictures, long form television, and commercial advertising.
“While we continue to strengten the traditional film, video, and sound services areas, we are adding the capability to offer large scale Internet hosting, IP distribution and caching through our venture with HyperTv and the extraordinary network capabilities of AT&T. Liberty Livewire will take a leadership role in defining the on-screen convergence of traditional sound and picture with the interactivity of the Internet.”