The Liberty Corporation (Public NYSE:LC) was a media corporation originally based out of Greenville, South Carolina. At its peak, The Liberty Corporation owned 15 network-affiliated television stations across the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. On top of that, cable advertising sales group CableVantage Inc., video production facility Take Ten Productions and broadcast equipment distributor Broadcast Merchandising Corporation were also some of its assets.
The company formerly held Liberty Life Insurance Company and Pierce National Life Insurance Company, which it sold in 2000 to Royal Bank of Canada.
After the sale of its insurance division, the company employed approximately 1,400 people. The executive officers included chairman and CEO W. Hayne Hipp (who, with his family, owned about 25% of the company before its sale to Raycom Media), president and COO James M. Keelor, CFO Howard L. Schrott.
In August 2005, Liberty agreed to be bought out by Raycom Media. Raycom paid $987 million, or $47.35 per Liberty share, and assumed Liberty's debts of approximately $110 million in the buyout. The acquisition was completed in February 2006; After the closing of the purchase of Liberty, Raycom sold a number of stations, including two from the Liberty portfolio. They included ABC WWAY-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina to Morris Multimedia and CBS affiliate KGBT-TV in Harlingen-McAllen-Brownsville, Texas to Barrington Broadcasting.
Liberty Media Corporation is a holding company, and through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the video and online commerce, media, communications and entertainment industries. The Company operates in three reportable segments: Leisure, the TripAdvisor Media Network and Egencia. Its Leisure segment provides a full range of travel and advertising services to its worldwide customers through a variety of brands including, Expedia.com and Hotels.com in the United States and localized Expedia and Hotels.com Websites throughout the world, Expedia Affiliate Network, Hotwire.com, Venere, eLong and Classic Vacations. Its TripAdvisor Media Network segment provides advertising services to travel suppliers on its Websites, which aggregate traveler opinions and unbiased travel articles about cities, hotels, restaurants and activities in a variety of destinations through tripadvisor.com and its localized international versions, as well as through its various travel media content properties within the TripAdvisor Media Network. Its Egencia segment provides managed travel services to corporate customers in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region.
Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company operates in North America, Europe and Asia. Its principal businesses and assets include its subsidiaries QVC, Inc. and Starz, LLC and its equity affiliates Sirius XM Radio Inc. and Expedia, Inc. On September 30, 2010, the Company changed the attribution of Starz Media, LLC from the Liberty Capital tracking stock group to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group. In December 2010, the Company exchanged its interest in InterActiveCorp (IAC) for all of the capital stock of a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC that held the Evite and Gifts.com businesses.
Interactive Group
The Interactive Group are those engaged in video and on-line commerce through its interests in QVC and the e-commerce businesses. The Company’s subsidiaries include QVC, Inc., Provide Commerce, Inc., Backcountry.com, Inc., Bodybuilding.com, LLC and Celebrate Interactive Holdings, Inc., and its interests in Expedia, Inc., HSN, Inc., Interval Leisure Group, Inc. and Tree.com, Inc. QVC, Inc. markets and sells a variety of consumer products in the United States and several foreign countries primarily through live televised shopping programs and via the Internet through its United States and international Websites.
QVC, Inc.’s Websites offers a televised shopping by allowing consumers to purchase a assortment of goods that were previously offered on the QVC television programs, as well as other items that are available from QVC, Inc. only via its Websites. QVC, Inc. offers a variety of merchandise. QVC, Inc. classifies its merchandise into four groups: home (including electronics), apparel, accessories (including beauty products) and jewelry. For the year ended December 31, 2010, home, apparel, accessories and jewelry accounted for approximately 48%, 14%, 25% and 13%, respectively, of QVC, Inc. 's net revenue generated by its United States operations.
Expedia, Inc. is a travel services companies, making travel products and services available to leisure and corporate travelers in the United States and abroad through a diversified portfolio of brands, including Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Venere.com, Hotwire.com, Egencia, Classic Vacations and TripAdvisor and a range of other domestic and international brands and businesses. HSN, Inc. is an interactive multi-channel retailer among its two operating segments, HSN and Cornerstone Brands. QVC, Inc. offers retail experiences on TV, online, in catalogs, and in brick and mortar stores. Cornerstone Brands consists of home and apparel lifestyle brands, including Ballard Design, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Improvements, Smith+Nobel, The Territory Ahead and Travelsmith. Cornerstone Brands distributes 324 million catalogs annually, operates eight separate e-commerce sites, and runs 25 retail stores.
Interval Leisure Group, Inc. is a global provider of membership and leisure services to the vacation industry. Tree.com is the owner of several brands and businesses that provide information, tools, advice, products and services for critical transactions in its customers' lives. Its family of brands includes LendingTree.com, GetSmart.com, RealEstate.com, DegreeTree.com, HealthTree.com, LendingTreeAutos.com, DoneRight.com, and InsuranceTree.com.
Starz Group
The Starz Group focuses primarily on video programming businesses. Starz, LLC (Starz), a wholly owned subsidiary, provides networks, which are distributed by cable operators, direct-to-home satellite providers, telephone companies and other distributors in the United States and develops, produces and acquires entertainment content and distributes such content to consumers in the United States and throughout the world. Starz is managed-based on business units, such as Starz Channels (legacy Starz Entertainment business) and Home Video, Television, Digital Media and Theatrical (legacy Starz Media businesses). Starz Channels' principal service offerings are Starz, which is a first-run movie service that generally includes Starz plus five multiplex channels branded with the Starz name, each of which exhibits original programming series and mini-series and movies targeted to a specific audience, and Encore, which airs first-run movies and classic contemporary movies and generally includes six additional thematic multiplex channels branded with the Encore name, each of which exhibits movies based upon individual themes.
Starz services also include MoviePlex, a theme by day channel featuring a different thematic multiplex channel each day, on a weekly rotation; IndiePlex, featuring art house and independent films; RetroPlex, featuring classic movies; Starz On Demand; Encore on Demand; MoviePlex On Demand; high definition feeds of several Starz and Encore channels and high definition versions of each of Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, and MoviePlex On Demand. Starz also offers Starz Online, Encore Online, MoviePlex Online and Starz Play which are Internet complements to Starz and Encore, to cable and telephone companies who offer high speed services and other distributors. As of December 31, 2010, Starz Entertainment had 18.2 million subscribers to its linear Starz channels and 32.8 million subscribers to its linear Encore channels. Programming networks, such as Starz, distribute their services through a number of distribution technologies, including cable television, direct-to-home satellite, broadcast television, telephone networks and the Internet. Liberty Sports Interactive, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, develops, operates and licenses fantasy sports games, fantasy sports league-hosting software and fantasy sports content delivered via broadband, as well as providing free online games, information and entertainment for sports fans. Subsequent to December 31, 2010, it was determined that Liberty Sports Interactive, Inc. would wind down operations and cease offering its services.
Capital Group
The Capital Group includes all of its businesses and assets that are not attributed to either the Interactive Group or the Starz Group. The assets and businesses attributed to the Capital Group include its subsidiaries: Starz Media through September 30, 2010, Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. and TruePosition, Inc., and its interests in Sirius XM Radio, Inc., Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., Time Warner Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corporation. Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. (ANLBC) owns and operates the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball franchise. In addition to the Atlanta Braves, ANLBC owns and operates a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and certain minor league baseball clubs. TruePosition, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary that develops and markets technology for locating wireless phones and other wireless devices enabling wireless carriers, application providers and other enterprises to provide E-911 services domestically and other location-based services to mobile users both domestically and worldwide.
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. is a domestic satellite radio company. SIRIUS XM broadcasts to subscribers over approximately 130 digital-quality channels, including more than 60 channels of 100% commercial-free music, plus exclusive channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data through its two satellite radio systems-the Sirius system and the XM system. In addition to the commercial-free music channels, SIRIUS XM's programming lineups also include 65 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data from such top names as Howard Stern, CNBC, CNN, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey, BBC World Service, NPR and Radio Disney.
As of December 31, 2010, the Company owned approximately 18% interest of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (Live Nation). Subsequent to year end the Company acquired an additional 1% interest Live Nation is organized into five business segments: Concerts, Artist Nation, Ticketing, Sponsorship and E-Commerce. The Concerts segment involves the promotion of live music events globally in the Company's owned and/or operated venues and in rented third-party venues, the production of music festivals and the operation and management of music venues. The Artist Nation segment provides management services to artists and other services including merchandise, artist fan sites and VIP tickets. The Ticketing segment principally involves the management of the Company's ticketing operations. The Sponsorship segment manages the development of strategic sponsorship programs in addition to the sale of national and local sponsorships and placement of advertising including signage and promotional programs. The E-Commerce segment provides online access for customers relating to ticket sales and event information and is responsible for the Company's primary websites, www.livenation.com and www.ticketmaster.com.
The Company competes with 1-800-FLOWERS, FTD, Teleflora, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline, American Express and Navigant International.
A highly successful initial public offering took place in 1964. The Hipp family retained the majority of shares. In 1967 The Liberty Corporation holding company was formed and Liberty Life came under control of the parent; the next year both Cosmos and Surety Investment Company followed suit. However, a conceived merger with the South Carolina National Bank was squelched by pending federal antitrust legislation. The Liberty Corporation became the fourth South Carolina company to trade on the New York Stock Exchange in 1969 and a new subsidiary, Liberty Properties, Inc., the successor to Surety Investments, was organized to manage the real estate portfolio. Liberty Properties did not fare well in the next few years of recession and increasing construction costs.
Herman Hipp, former president of the Liberty Life subsidiary, became president and CEO of The Liberty Corporation in 1977. The next year, he merged Liberty Properties into Liberty Life. A $1 million "Have a Good Life" health promotion campaign was launched to enhance the company's image and to combat growing public suspicion regarding the life insurance industry.
Cosmos began buying radio stations again in 1979 with the purchase of Sarasota's WQSR-FM. It also bought Orion Broadcasting, which owned several television and radio stations in the Midwest, for $73 million.
W. Hayne Hipp succeeded Herman Hipp as Liberty Corporation president and CEO only two years into the latter's tenure. The Liberty Corporation bought United Fidelity of Texas and then sold it in 1982 for $70 million, nearly twice its purchase price. The company gained new management perspectives during the acquisition. At the same time, it upgraded its computer and training technology.
A new headquarters was completed in 1982; it would also house Cosmos Broadcasting which had previously been located in Columbia. By the mid-1980s, Liberty Life had $10 billion in policies in force. Cosmos owned ten radio and TV stations scattered from Toledo to Sarasota. Liberty Properties Group had been able to divest itself of its poorly-performing vacation home developments and concentrate on more viable residential and commercial opportunities.
Anticipating the Needs of a New Century
Liberty entered the pre-need market via the acquisition of several companies beginning in 1992: Pierce National Life (which had Canadian operations), Estate Assurance Company, American Funeral Assurance Company, and North American National Corporation, which owned Pan-Western Life Insurance Company, Howard Life Insurance Company, and Brookings International Life Insurance Company. All of these operations were merged into Pierce National by 1995. Two other Louisiana-based providers of home service insurance were also acquired in the mid-1990s: Magnolia Financial Corporation and State National Capital Corporation.
CableVantage was formed in 1994 in order to promote cable television advertising. The company had sold all of its radio stations in the 1980s. Liberty Corporation focused on building its strengths in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Hayne Hipp, who assumed the position upon the death of his father in July 1995. Two years later, the company sold $70 million worth of office and industrial property to Liberty Property Trust, an unrelated company based in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
Liberty Corporation also proved successful in administering insurance policies for other companies. Liberty Insurance Services (LIS) was created in 1992 and became one of the top life TPAs (Third Party Administration firms) in the country, with over 700,000 policies under administration for external client companies. LIS also serviced over three million policies for Liberty Corporation subsidiaries.
After special charges, The Liberty Corporation earned $37 million on 1996 revenues of $619 million. The company had $20 billion worth of policies in force; insurance revenues were $482 million. Seventy-seven percent of Liberty Life's revenues were in life insurance. Total broadcasting revenues were $137 million in 1996.
Liberty Corporation has had sufficient capital and skills to meet various challenges throughout the century. Its brand of cautious innovation (a function of its ownership, according to Hayne Hipp) and concentration on key areas of expertise seemed likely to assure it an equally successful future.
Principal Subsidiaries: Liberty Life Insurance Co.; Pierce National Life Insurance Co.; Liberty Insurance Services Corp.; Cosmos Broadcasting Corp.
Principal Divisions: Insurance Marketing; Insurance Services; Television Broadcasting.
OVERALL
Beta: 2.10
Market Cap (Mil.): $22,164.43
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 734.73
Annual Dividend: --
Yield (%): --
FINANCIALS
LCAPA.O Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 7.19 532.80 18.17
EPS (TTM): 286.02 -- --
ROI: 22.30 3.74 1.56
ROE: 39.17 6.81 2.40
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1905 as Southeastern Life Insurance Company
Employees: 3,000
Total Assets: $3.06 billion (1996)
Stock Exchanges: New York
SICs: 6311 Life Insurance; 4833 Television Broadcasting; 6719 Holding Companies, Not Elsewhere Classified
Name Age Since Current Position
Malone, John 70 1994 Chairman of the Board
Maffei, Gregory 51 2006 President, Chief Executive Officer, Director
Tanabe, Charles 59 2007 Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Flowers, David 56 2000 Senior Vice President, Treasurer
Shean, Christopher 45 2002 Senior Vice President, Controller
Rosenthaler, Albert 51 2002 Senior Vice President
Bennett, Robert 53 1994 Director
Malone, Evan 40 2008 Director
Fisher, Donne 72 2001 Independent Director
Rapley, David 69 2002 Independent Director
Robison, M. LaVoy 75 2003 Independent Director
Romrell, Larry 71 1999 Independent Director
Gilchrist, Malcolm 61 2009 Independent Director
Wong, Andrea 44 2010 Independent Director
Address:
Box 789
Greenville, South Carolina 29602-0789
U.S.A.
The company formerly held Liberty Life Insurance Company and Pierce National Life Insurance Company, which it sold in 2000 to Royal Bank of Canada.
After the sale of its insurance division, the company employed approximately 1,400 people. The executive officers included chairman and CEO W. Hayne Hipp (who, with his family, owned about 25% of the company before its sale to Raycom Media), president and COO James M. Keelor, CFO Howard L. Schrott.
In August 2005, Liberty agreed to be bought out by Raycom Media. Raycom paid $987 million, or $47.35 per Liberty share, and assumed Liberty's debts of approximately $110 million in the buyout. The acquisition was completed in February 2006; After the closing of the purchase of Liberty, Raycom sold a number of stations, including two from the Liberty portfolio. They included ABC WWAY-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina to Morris Multimedia and CBS affiliate KGBT-TV in Harlingen-McAllen-Brownsville, Texas to Barrington Broadcasting.
Liberty Media Corporation is a holding company, and through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the video and online commerce, media, communications and entertainment industries. The Company operates in three reportable segments: Leisure, the TripAdvisor Media Network and Egencia. Its Leisure segment provides a full range of travel and advertising services to its worldwide customers through a variety of brands including, Expedia.com and Hotels.com in the United States and localized Expedia and Hotels.com Websites throughout the world, Expedia Affiliate Network, Hotwire.com, Venere, eLong and Classic Vacations. Its TripAdvisor Media Network segment provides advertising services to travel suppliers on its Websites, which aggregate traveler opinions and unbiased travel articles about cities, hotels, restaurants and activities in a variety of destinations through tripadvisor.com and its localized international versions, as well as through its various travel media content properties within the TripAdvisor Media Network. Its Egencia segment provides managed travel services to corporate customers in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region.
Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company operates in North America, Europe and Asia. Its principal businesses and assets include its subsidiaries QVC, Inc. and Starz, LLC and its equity affiliates Sirius XM Radio Inc. and Expedia, Inc. On September 30, 2010, the Company changed the attribution of Starz Media, LLC from the Liberty Capital tracking stock group to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group. In December 2010, the Company exchanged its interest in InterActiveCorp (IAC) for all of the capital stock of a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC that held the Evite and Gifts.com businesses.
Interactive Group
The Interactive Group are those engaged in video and on-line commerce through its interests in QVC and the e-commerce businesses. The Company’s subsidiaries include QVC, Inc., Provide Commerce, Inc., Backcountry.com, Inc., Bodybuilding.com, LLC and Celebrate Interactive Holdings, Inc., and its interests in Expedia, Inc., HSN, Inc., Interval Leisure Group, Inc. and Tree.com, Inc. QVC, Inc. markets and sells a variety of consumer products in the United States and several foreign countries primarily through live televised shopping programs and via the Internet through its United States and international Websites.
QVC, Inc.’s Websites offers a televised shopping by allowing consumers to purchase a assortment of goods that were previously offered on the QVC television programs, as well as other items that are available from QVC, Inc. only via its Websites. QVC, Inc. offers a variety of merchandise. QVC, Inc. classifies its merchandise into four groups: home (including electronics), apparel, accessories (including beauty products) and jewelry. For the year ended December 31, 2010, home, apparel, accessories and jewelry accounted for approximately 48%, 14%, 25% and 13%, respectively, of QVC, Inc. 's net revenue generated by its United States operations.
Expedia, Inc. is a travel services companies, making travel products and services available to leisure and corporate travelers in the United States and abroad through a diversified portfolio of brands, including Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Venere.com, Hotwire.com, Egencia, Classic Vacations and TripAdvisor and a range of other domestic and international brands and businesses. HSN, Inc. is an interactive multi-channel retailer among its two operating segments, HSN and Cornerstone Brands. QVC, Inc. offers retail experiences on TV, online, in catalogs, and in brick and mortar stores. Cornerstone Brands consists of home and apparel lifestyle brands, including Ballard Design, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Improvements, Smith+Nobel, The Territory Ahead and Travelsmith. Cornerstone Brands distributes 324 million catalogs annually, operates eight separate e-commerce sites, and runs 25 retail stores.
Interval Leisure Group, Inc. is a global provider of membership and leisure services to the vacation industry. Tree.com is the owner of several brands and businesses that provide information, tools, advice, products and services for critical transactions in its customers' lives. Its family of brands includes LendingTree.com, GetSmart.com, RealEstate.com, DegreeTree.com, HealthTree.com, LendingTreeAutos.com, DoneRight.com, and InsuranceTree.com.
Starz Group
The Starz Group focuses primarily on video programming businesses. Starz, LLC (Starz), a wholly owned subsidiary, provides networks, which are distributed by cable operators, direct-to-home satellite providers, telephone companies and other distributors in the United States and develops, produces and acquires entertainment content and distributes such content to consumers in the United States and throughout the world. Starz is managed-based on business units, such as Starz Channels (legacy Starz Entertainment business) and Home Video, Television, Digital Media and Theatrical (legacy Starz Media businesses). Starz Channels' principal service offerings are Starz, which is a first-run movie service that generally includes Starz plus five multiplex channels branded with the Starz name, each of which exhibits original programming series and mini-series and movies targeted to a specific audience, and Encore, which airs first-run movies and classic contemporary movies and generally includes six additional thematic multiplex channels branded with the Encore name, each of which exhibits movies based upon individual themes.
Starz services also include MoviePlex, a theme by day channel featuring a different thematic multiplex channel each day, on a weekly rotation; IndiePlex, featuring art house and independent films; RetroPlex, featuring classic movies; Starz On Demand; Encore on Demand; MoviePlex On Demand; high definition feeds of several Starz and Encore channels and high definition versions of each of Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, and MoviePlex On Demand. Starz also offers Starz Online, Encore Online, MoviePlex Online and Starz Play which are Internet complements to Starz and Encore, to cable and telephone companies who offer high speed services and other distributors. As of December 31, 2010, Starz Entertainment had 18.2 million subscribers to its linear Starz channels and 32.8 million subscribers to its linear Encore channels. Programming networks, such as Starz, distribute their services through a number of distribution technologies, including cable television, direct-to-home satellite, broadcast television, telephone networks and the Internet. Liberty Sports Interactive, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, develops, operates and licenses fantasy sports games, fantasy sports league-hosting software and fantasy sports content delivered via broadband, as well as providing free online games, information and entertainment for sports fans. Subsequent to December 31, 2010, it was determined that Liberty Sports Interactive, Inc. would wind down operations and cease offering its services.
Capital Group
The Capital Group includes all of its businesses and assets that are not attributed to either the Interactive Group or the Starz Group. The assets and businesses attributed to the Capital Group include its subsidiaries: Starz Media through September 30, 2010, Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. and TruePosition, Inc., and its interests in Sirius XM Radio, Inc., Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., Time Warner Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corporation. Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. (ANLBC) owns and operates the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball franchise. In addition to the Atlanta Braves, ANLBC owns and operates a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and certain minor league baseball clubs. TruePosition, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary that develops and markets technology for locating wireless phones and other wireless devices enabling wireless carriers, application providers and other enterprises to provide E-911 services domestically and other location-based services to mobile users both domestically and worldwide.
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. is a domestic satellite radio company. SIRIUS XM broadcasts to subscribers over approximately 130 digital-quality channels, including more than 60 channels of 100% commercial-free music, plus exclusive channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data through its two satellite radio systems-the Sirius system and the XM system. In addition to the commercial-free music channels, SIRIUS XM's programming lineups also include 65 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data from such top names as Howard Stern, CNBC, CNN, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey, BBC World Service, NPR and Radio Disney.
As of December 31, 2010, the Company owned approximately 18% interest of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (Live Nation). Subsequent to year end the Company acquired an additional 1% interest Live Nation is organized into five business segments: Concerts, Artist Nation, Ticketing, Sponsorship and E-Commerce. The Concerts segment involves the promotion of live music events globally in the Company's owned and/or operated venues and in rented third-party venues, the production of music festivals and the operation and management of music venues. The Artist Nation segment provides management services to artists and other services including merchandise, artist fan sites and VIP tickets. The Ticketing segment principally involves the management of the Company's ticketing operations. The Sponsorship segment manages the development of strategic sponsorship programs in addition to the sale of national and local sponsorships and placement of advertising including signage and promotional programs. The E-Commerce segment provides online access for customers relating to ticket sales and event information and is responsible for the Company's primary websites, www.livenation.com and www.ticketmaster.com.
The Company competes with 1-800-FLOWERS, FTD, Teleflora, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline, American Express and Navigant International.
A highly successful initial public offering took place in 1964. The Hipp family retained the majority of shares. In 1967 The Liberty Corporation holding company was formed and Liberty Life came under control of the parent; the next year both Cosmos and Surety Investment Company followed suit. However, a conceived merger with the South Carolina National Bank was squelched by pending federal antitrust legislation. The Liberty Corporation became the fourth South Carolina company to trade on the New York Stock Exchange in 1969 and a new subsidiary, Liberty Properties, Inc., the successor to Surety Investments, was organized to manage the real estate portfolio. Liberty Properties did not fare well in the next few years of recession and increasing construction costs.
Herman Hipp, former president of the Liberty Life subsidiary, became president and CEO of The Liberty Corporation in 1977. The next year, he merged Liberty Properties into Liberty Life. A $1 million "Have a Good Life" health promotion campaign was launched to enhance the company's image and to combat growing public suspicion regarding the life insurance industry.
Cosmos began buying radio stations again in 1979 with the purchase of Sarasota's WQSR-FM. It also bought Orion Broadcasting, which owned several television and radio stations in the Midwest, for $73 million.
W. Hayne Hipp succeeded Herman Hipp as Liberty Corporation president and CEO only two years into the latter's tenure. The Liberty Corporation bought United Fidelity of Texas and then sold it in 1982 for $70 million, nearly twice its purchase price. The company gained new management perspectives during the acquisition. At the same time, it upgraded its computer and training technology.
A new headquarters was completed in 1982; it would also house Cosmos Broadcasting which had previously been located in Columbia. By the mid-1980s, Liberty Life had $10 billion in policies in force. Cosmos owned ten radio and TV stations scattered from Toledo to Sarasota. Liberty Properties Group had been able to divest itself of its poorly-performing vacation home developments and concentrate on more viable residential and commercial opportunities.
Anticipating the Needs of a New Century
Liberty entered the pre-need market via the acquisition of several companies beginning in 1992: Pierce National Life (which had Canadian operations), Estate Assurance Company, American Funeral Assurance Company, and North American National Corporation, which owned Pan-Western Life Insurance Company, Howard Life Insurance Company, and Brookings International Life Insurance Company. All of these operations were merged into Pierce National by 1995. Two other Louisiana-based providers of home service insurance were also acquired in the mid-1990s: Magnolia Financial Corporation and State National Capital Corporation.
CableVantage was formed in 1994 in order to promote cable television advertising. The company had sold all of its radio stations in the 1980s. Liberty Corporation focused on building its strengths in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Hayne Hipp, who assumed the position upon the death of his father in July 1995. Two years later, the company sold $70 million worth of office and industrial property to Liberty Property Trust, an unrelated company based in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
Liberty Corporation also proved successful in administering insurance policies for other companies. Liberty Insurance Services (LIS) was created in 1992 and became one of the top life TPAs (Third Party Administration firms) in the country, with over 700,000 policies under administration for external client companies. LIS also serviced over three million policies for Liberty Corporation subsidiaries.
After special charges, The Liberty Corporation earned $37 million on 1996 revenues of $619 million. The company had $20 billion worth of policies in force; insurance revenues were $482 million. Seventy-seven percent of Liberty Life's revenues were in life insurance. Total broadcasting revenues were $137 million in 1996.
Liberty Corporation has had sufficient capital and skills to meet various challenges throughout the century. Its brand of cautious innovation (a function of its ownership, according to Hayne Hipp) and concentration on key areas of expertise seemed likely to assure it an equally successful future.
Principal Subsidiaries: Liberty Life Insurance Co.; Pierce National Life Insurance Co.; Liberty Insurance Services Corp.; Cosmos Broadcasting Corp.
Principal Divisions: Insurance Marketing; Insurance Services; Television Broadcasting.
OVERALL
Beta: 2.10
Market Cap (Mil.): $22,164.43
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 734.73
Annual Dividend: --
Yield (%): --
FINANCIALS
LCAPA.O Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 7.19 532.80 18.17
EPS (TTM): 286.02 -- --
ROI: 22.30 3.74 1.56
ROE: 39.17 6.81 2.40
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1905 as Southeastern Life Insurance Company
Employees: 3,000
Total Assets: $3.06 billion (1996)
Stock Exchanges: New York
SICs: 6311 Life Insurance; 4833 Television Broadcasting; 6719 Holding Companies, Not Elsewhere Classified
Name Age Since Current Position
Malone, John 70 1994 Chairman of the Board
Maffei, Gregory 51 2006 President, Chief Executive Officer, Director
Tanabe, Charles 59 2007 Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Flowers, David 56 2000 Senior Vice President, Treasurer
Shean, Christopher 45 2002 Senior Vice President, Controller
Rosenthaler, Albert 51 2002 Senior Vice President
Bennett, Robert 53 1994 Director
Malone, Evan 40 2008 Director
Fisher, Donne 72 2001 Independent Director
Rapley, David 69 2002 Independent Director
Robison, M. LaVoy 75 2003 Independent Director
Romrell, Larry 71 1999 Independent Director
Gilchrist, Malcolm 61 2009 Independent Director
Wong, Andrea 44 2010 Independent Director
Address:
Box 789
Greenville, South Carolina 29602-0789
U.S.A.