Murdoch to rejig assets?
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February 14, 2000: 5:19 a.m. ET
Report: media mogul to separate satellite assets, prepare for digital age
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is to revamp his businesses to better prepare for the digital future, according to a published report Monday.
Murdoch plans to consolidate all of his global satellite activities in a move that would represent a major bet on the future of worldwide broadcasting, according to the Wall Street Journal Monday.
The newspaper said Murdoch will create a new company encompassing all his satellite ventures, including pan-Asian broadcaster Star TV, his 40 percent interest in the U.K.'s British Sky Broadcasting (BSY), and minority stakes in TV businesses in Japan, Germany and Latin America among others.
This new company will be 60 percent owned by Murdoch's flagship News Corp., with the remaining shares either sold to the public or to strategic partners, according to the newspaper's sources familiar with the matter. News Corp. officials had no comment on the purported moves.
A precedent has been set for the strategy following News Corp.'s decision just over a year ago to put all its entertainment and sports assets into a single company of which it owns more than 80 percent. The WSJ said the latest deal has taken several months of work, and is likely to be announced within two months.
Murdoch is reportedly disappointed by the stock market valuation attributed to his company, and believes a separate listing for the satellite assets would be valued at about $22 billion, according to the Journal.
News Corp. stock fell 3.4 percent Monday to A$22.25.
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