COMCAST CORP, QVC RAISE STAKE IN GLOBAL
Byline: Jennifer Weitzman
NEW YORK — Global Sports, a developer and operator of e-commerce sporting goods businesses, said Monday that Comcast Corp. and the home shopping network QVC have increased their stake in Global to 25.8 percent.
Comcast and QVC, through a joint venture, will purchase 4 million shares of the King of Prussia, Pa.-based company, 3 million new shares of which will come from GS and 1 million from chairman and chief executive officer Michael Rubin at $10 a share.
At the close of the deal, Comcast and QVS will have a total stake of 9 million shares while investment funds affiliated with Softbank Holdings will own 8.7 million shares, or 24.8 percent of the shares. Rubin will own 7.1 million shares, representing 20.2 percent of the outstanding shares.
Last September, the two companies purchased 5 million shares, or 15.7 percent of GS’s outstanding shares. In addition, they have the option to purchase another 4.5 million shares.
GS also said it expects to exceed analysts’ consensus estimates for the second quarter as well as generate greater-than-expected sales and a smaller-than-expected pro forma net loss. Rubin stated the firm expects to achieve pro forma profits in the fourth quarter of this year and the full-year 2002.
Shares of GS rose $2.55, or 28.1 percent, to close at $11.63, breaking a previous 52-week high of $11.12, reached Nov. 27.