Liberty Media is selling $1.55 billion worth of newly issued common stock at $25 a share to raise money toward its acquisition of motor sport federation Formula One (see 1609080031), the company said in a news release Wednesday. The buyers are Coatue Management, D.E. Shaw group, Jana Partners, Ruane Cunniff, Soroban Capital Partners, SPO Advisory and Viking Global Investors, it said. The shares will be issued with the completion of the Formula One takeover, it said, adding that the additional cash will reduce the number of Liberty Media shares to be paid to Formula One shareholders from 138 million to 7 million. It said the total number of shares to be issued by Liberty Media in connection with the Formula One deal will remain at about 138 million.

Viacom and CBS have ended their mutuals look into merging after majority shareholder National Amusements said "this is not the right time" for the two to combine. Viacom also said Monday in a news release its board dissolved its special committee formed to look at a possible transaction and instead made acting President-CEO Bob Bakish permanent and appointed him to the board. Shari Redstone, board vice chairwoman and president of National Amusements, said she's "very excited by the strategy Viacom is pursuing under Bob's leadership. While there is much work to do, I firmly believe that Viacom has a bright future and that confidence is underpinned by senior management's commitment to innovation and a more coordinated, global approach to managing our brands." CBS told us Monday it had ended looking into a possible transaction. Redstone and National Amusements CEO Sumner Redstone signed a letter Monday from National Amusements, which also is majority shareholder of CBS, to the two companies' boards, suggesting they end exploration of a deal -- something it had pushed in September (see 1609290077). National Amusements said it changed its mind about the progress and prospects of the two after months of "careful assessment and meetings with the leadership of both companies." CBS/Viacom was seen by some as not facing big regulatory hurdles (see 1610050039). In a note to investors Monday, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said the National Amusements change was unsurprising since the longer the evaluation took, the less likely it became a combination would happen. CBS CEO Les Moonves' comments at recent investor conferences also suggested CBS was better as a stand-alone operation, she said, saying Wall Street "has warmed up to Mr. Bakish in his new role." Viacom shares closed 7.5 percent lower Monday at $39.25.

Twenty-First Century Fox -- in talks with Sky about a takeover -- has a Jan. 6 deadline for announcing whether it will make an offer, the company said in a news release Friday. It said it reached agreement in principle to buy the 60.9 percent of the U.K. pay-TV company that it doesn't own, but certain offer terms still are under discussion. Sky said it formed an independent committee of board members to consider the terms of a 21st Century Fox proposal. Twenty-First Century Fox said the deadline can be extended. Several years ago, 21st Century Fox, then called News Corp., tried unsuccessfully to buy Sky, then known as BSkyB. The deal was tabled in 2011 amid concerns about phone hacking by News Corp. newspapers (see 107140093).

Correction: The author of the Ernst & Young report on telecom merger-and-acquisition activity was Gaeron McClure (see 1611280016).

Tessera's DTS agreed to buy All In Media, which supplies smartphone apps and broadcast systems for radio stations owned by Australian Broadcasting Corp., RTÉ Radio, Wireless Group and others. DTS said in a news release Thursday the firm also helps run visual radio services.

Sprint majority owner SoftBank committed to invest an additional $50 billion in the U.S. and to create 50,000 jobs in the country, President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday. Trump announced the investment plan via Twitter after a meeting with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who Trump said told him he “would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!” SoftBank previously planned a $100 billion tech-centric investment fund in partnership with Saudi Arabia-based interests. SoftBank didn't comment.

Verizon agreed to sell 24 data center sites to Equinix for $3.6 billion in cash, including 29 buildings in 15 metropolitan areas, the companies said (here and here) Tuesday. That will increase interconnection in the U.S. and Latin America, the buyer said. "It enables us to enhance cloud and network density to continue to attract enterprises, while expanding our presence in the Americas," said Equinix CEO Steve Smith. Some 250 Verizon employees will work for the acquirer, Equinix said, and both companies said the deal is expected to be complete by mid-2017. "There could be some integration challenges on the non-Terremark facilities, which we understand had lower growth, utilization and capital investment than other parts of the portfolio," Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche wrote investors. Verizon bought Terremark in 2011 for about $1.4 billion (see reports in 2011's April 4 and Jan. 31 issues). "The network-neutral data center space represents a derivative play on the continued growth of IP and Internet traffic," the analyst wrote.

Leviton acquired ConTech Lighting, a lighting controls and fixtures manufacturer to build out its lighting portfolio, it announced Monday. In May 2015, Leviton bought Intense Lighting, a manufacturer of LED luminaries. John Ranshaw, ConTech CEO, will report to Leviton Chief Operating Officer Daryoush Larizadeh. Terms weren't disclosed.

The Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee will hear testimony Wednesday on the AT&T/Time Warner deal from Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Cinemoi President Daphna Ziman, the committee revealed Friday. The CEOs for the two companies involved in the deal will testify, as expected.

With many companies trying to adapt to convergence, nearly half of telecom executives are actively pursuing mergers or acquisitions in the next 12 months, Ernst & Young reported Monday. EY said 48 percent expected to pursue M&A, and 37 percent have five or more deals in the pipeline. Adding talent is a big driver, with 71 percent saying that's the most important or second most important reason for pursuing an acquisition outside their sector, EY said. “Positioning for convergence is driving a number of [high-profile] deals, such as AT&T’s announced acquisition of Time Warner, yet smaller deals that can fill gaps in portfolios or provide innovative assets or people are also moving into focus as companies look to overhaul their business models,” wrote EY Global Telecommunications Leader Gaeron McClure. “A number of carriers are pursuing ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and over-the-top (OTT) video services.” EY surveyed 1,700 executives in 45 countries, representing 18 sectors including technology.