Malone Grants Discovery, Liberty Global CEOs Right Of First Refusal

(RTTNews) - Billionaire John Malone has granted Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA) chief executive David Zaslav and Liberty Global Plc. (LBTYA) CEO Michael Fries the right to purchase his holdings in these companies if he chooses to sell them, regulatory filings showed.

Malone beneficially owns 628,683 shares of Series A Common Stock in Discovery, which represent less than 1 percent of the outstanding shares of Series A Common Stock. He also beneficially owns 6.19 million shares of Series B Common Stock, representing 94.5 percent of the outstanding shares of Series B Common Stock.

The filing showed that as long as David Zaslav is employed by Malone, he will have the right to negotiate to buy Series B Common Stock owned personally by Malone, if Malone is not voting these shares.

If the parties fail to come to an agreement regarding such purchase and Malone subsequently intends to enter into a sale transaction with a third party, Zaslav will have a right to match the offer made by such third party.

Malone reached a similar agreement with Liberty Global's Michael Fries. In Liberty Global, Malone beneficially owns 1.14 million Class A ordinary shares and 8.79 million Class B ordinary shares.

DISCA closed down 0.6 percent on Tuesday at $80.33. LBTYA settled up 4.7 percent at $87.51.