NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 22, 2004--Liberty Media Corp.'s (BBB-/Stable/--) announcement that it has increased its investment in News Corp. Ltd. by about $700 million does not affect its rating or outlook. However, coming on the heels of Liberty's indication that it expects to participate pro rata in UnitedGlobalCom Inc.'s $1 billion rights offering, translating into a further $550 million cash use, the investment reduces its flexibility within the rating for share repurchases. These actions follow the company's announcement on Nov. 20, 2003, that it will reduce its debt by $4.5 billion by the end of 2005, $2.5 billion of which was achieved by the end of 2003. Despite the size of these two cash uses, Standard&Poor's
