On Jan. 21, 2005, Standard&Poor's Rating Services placed its ratings for Liberty Media Corp. on CreditWatch with negative implications, based on chairman John Malone's indications that he might split up Liberty to simplify its structure. These statements could signal a shift in the company's strategic thinking and create uncertainty. Because several complexities are involved in transferring Liberty's debt to another entity, Standard&Poor's views the chairman's comments as raising questions about the business mix, cash flow, and liquidity that might remain to support Liberty's debt following a restructuring, and whether the resulting profile is consistent with an investment-grade rating. Moreover, in the past year, Liberty spun off its international operations, transferred meaningful liquid assets into the international
