IAC, Liberty Interactive: Media Winners
(Media Winners article updated with share price and volume information.)
NEW YORK (
) --
InterActiveCorp
(IACI)
hit a new 52-week high share price of $29.70 on Thursday after
the company bought out one of its biggest shareholders
, John Malone's
Liberty Media
( LCAPA).
Over 1.6 million shares of InterActiveCorp traded hands on Thursday, compared with the average three-month volume of 1 million after Liberty sold its entire IAC stake for $220 million, as well as its Evite and Gifts.com businesses, which will become part of the
Liberty Interactive
(LINTA)
division.
Barry Diller will be stepping down as CEO of IAC and will be replaced by former Match.com CEO Greg Blatt.
The Liberty Interactive share price spiked to $16.16 on Thursday morning, trading at the high end of its 52-week price range of $10.04 to $16.80. Volume surged as more than 9.4 million shares of traded hands compared with the stock's average three-month volume of 3.5 million.
Analyst Barton Crockett of Lazard Capital says the IAC deal is a positive for Liberty investors, attributing the agreement between John Malone and Barry Diller.
Crockett explained that a more amicable relationship between Malone and Diller could set the stage for a future deal between the two regarding Interactive's stake in
Expedia
(EXPE) - Get Report
, which is controlled by Diller. If Interactive decides to sell its 24% stake in Expedia, which is valued at $1.9 billion, Crockett estimates a capital gain of $714 million, or $1.23 per share.
In his Dec. 2 research note, Crockett maintained his buy rating of Liberty Interactive, with a $19 price target. The stock closed up 1.21% at $15.91.
--Written by Theresa McCabe in Boston.
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