Charter shares soar on Malone's reported interest

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shares of cable TV operator Charter Communications jumped Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported that John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. is near a deal to buy a 25 percent stake in the company for $2.5 billion.

Charter shares rose $8.11, or 8.3 percent, to $97.53.

A Charter spokeswoman declined to comment on the report, which cited people familiar with the situation but did not identify them. A Liberty Media spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Charter has about 4.2 million video subscribers.

The 72-year-old Malone is a billionaire who made his fortune by becoming chief executive of Denver-based Tele-Communications Inc. in 1973. After rescuing the company from near bankruptcy, he sold it to AT&T for $48 billion in 1998.

Liberty Media shares were down $1.02 to $109.35.