The spat between Liberty Media (NSDQ: LINTA) and IACI is expected to go to court in early March, but in the meantime, the two sides may still attempt to resolve their differences. The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies will turn to investment bank Allen & Co. to help work things out and that the key to any agreement may be IAC’s HSN unit, whose fortunes have recently turned upward. The two sides have talked in the past about transferring HSN to Liberty in exchange for the firm relinquishing its grip on IAC (NSDQ: IACI). We know from past comments that Liberty is definitely interested in that asset at the right price, as the company already owns HSN’s chief rival, QVC. The problem before: HSN wasn’t doing well, so its value as a bargaining chip was limited. Now that the business has started to improve under the leadership of Mindy Grossman, the two sides may be ready to deal. The report also suggests that other assets could be thrown into the mix. What that would be is unclear, though again, Liberty has expressed some interest in TicketMaster, so perhaps that could be involved in some way.

• @ UBS Media Week: Greg Maffei, CEO, Liberty Media; Interested in IAC Assets At The Right Price
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