News Corp.’s shareholders on April 3 approved a plan to give up the company’s 38.5 percent stake in DirecTV Group Inc. plus $550 million in cash in exchange for Liberty Media Corp. and its 16.3 percent stake in the media company.

More than 99 percent of shareholders approved the deal in a special meeting. The deal, first announced in December, will reportedly strengthen Rupert Murdoch’s control over News Corp. from about 31 percent to 38 percent.

Regulatory approval is pending, and is expected to close by second or third quarter of fiscal 2007.

Murdoch was quoted at the meeting that a buyback of a similar size in the open market would take about 18 months. He added that the swap will allow News Corp. to end its exposure to the satellite TV market in the U.S., though the chairman said News Corp. remains content with its satellite operations in Italy and the United Kingdom.