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MSFT target: Sky Global?
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October 30, 2000: 12:36 a.m. ET
Software maker reportedly in talks to invest over $1B in News Corp. property
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - - News Corp. is in talks with Microsoft Corp. that could result in the software company investing more than $1 billion in Sky Global Networks Inc., a recently formed unit that consolidates all of News Corp.'s global satellite TV assets and investments, according to a published report.
Microsoft would emerge with a 3.5 percent stake in Sky Global, if a deal is struck, The Wall Street Journal's Web site reported Monday. The report was attributed to people familiar with the situation.
 Such a transaction would be a boost for Sky Global, which News Corp. had hoped to take public this fall, before the stock market became choppy amid increased volatility in technology shares, the Web site reported.
The Sky Global offering has now been pushed back until next year, and News Corp. is hoping instead to raise cash by selling smaller stakes to big investors, according to a person close to the company, the Web site story said.
Spokesmen for News Corp. and Microsoft declined to comment on the talks, according to the story.
For Microsoft, a deal with News Corp. could offer it a chance to deploy interactive-television software it is developing across another company's network, the Journal reported.
Sky Global's principal assets include Hong Kong satellite-TV broadcaster Star TV and News Corp.'s 40 percent stake in United Kingdom satellite-TV system BSkyB, as well as News Corp.'s investments in Latin American satellite-TV platforms, the story said. Sky Global was created earlier this year by News Corp. to help make its satellite assets more attractive to potential investors, it added.
Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of News Corp., last month estimated Sky Global's value at $40 billion, but some analysts said its value might have fallen since then as the value of tech stocks have deflated, the Journal reported. The Microsoft investment would peg Sky Global's total value at about $35 billion. 
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