Liberty Media faces lawsuit

U.K. investor Klesch & Co. is hopping mad with Colorado, U.S.-based Liberty Media in the wake of the latter's full purchase of six German cable systems. Klesch claims it should have been a 50/50 deal.

August 2, 2001

Liberty Media’s recent purchase of six regional German cable franchises from Deutsche Telekom (for nearly US$5 billion) has led to a lawsuit launched by U.K. investor Klesch & Company. According to New York law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman (representing Klesch), Klesch claims that the two companies had established a partnership to acquire a controlling interest in the German T.V. assets and is, therefore, entitled to a 50% stake, rather than the 25% share Liberty reportedly offered. Klesch is suing Liberty for fraud, and breach of contractual and fiduciary obligations.

A Liberty Media spokesperson acknowledged the lawsuit, but says the company has no comment at this time. Liberty holds interest in Discovery Communications (49%), Court TV (50%), STARZ! (100%) andE! Entertainment Television (10%), among other programming, communications, technology and

internet businesses.

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About The Author

Andrew Tracy joined Realscreen as associate editor in 2021, following 17 years as managing editor of the award-winning international film magazine Cinema Scope. From 2010 to 2020 he also held the position of senior editor at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he oversaw the flagship publication for the organization’s year-round Cinematheque programming and edited its first original monograph in a decade, Steve Gravestock’s A History of Icelandic Film. He was a scriptwriter and consultant on the first season of the Vice TV series The Vice Guide to Film, and his writing and reporting have been featured in such outlets as Cinema Scope, Reverse Shot, Sight & Sound, Cineaste, Film Comment, MUBI Notebook, POV, and Montage.

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