News Corp sees 2 as better than 1
Source: Agencies |
June 29, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CALLING it the next logical step in a near six-decade evolution, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp yesterday said it plans to split into two separate publicly-traded companies.
Under the plan, one company will operate as a newspaper and book publisher, while the other will be an entertainment firm that includes the 20th Century Fox movie studio, the Fox broadcast TV network and the Fox News channel. It may take a year to work out the details.
The Murdoch family, which controls nearly 40 percent of the voting shares in News Corp, is expected to maintain control of both companies.
Rupert Murdoch said in a conference call with investors that a split would result in two strong companies that have more operational flexibility and be poised for greater growth.
"We've come a long way in our journey that began nearly 60 years ago with a single newspaper operating out of Adelaide," Murdoch said, referring to the single Australian newspaper he inherited from his father and became the foundation for News Corp. "Each of these new companies would have the potential to continue that journey and prosper as an independent entity long into the future."
The split of News Corp is a symbolic turning point for its 81-year-old media mogul. Through the years, Murdoch kept a fondness for newspapers even as he purchased entertainment companies. In hearings last summer before UK lawmakers, he conceded that he regularly called newspaper editors under his employ with the greeting: "What's doing?"
Investors have already given their blessing to the split, having pushed shares of the company's Class B stock up 10 percent since the news of the plan broke early on Tuesday. The shares edged down 8 cents to US$22.33 in morning trading yesterday.
Under the proposal, News Corp shareholders will get one share of common stock in the new company for each share of News Corp that they now hold.
Under the plan, one company will operate as a newspaper and book publisher, while the other will be an entertainment firm that includes the 20th Century Fox movie studio, the Fox broadcast TV network and the Fox News channel. It may take a year to work out the details.
The Murdoch family, which controls nearly 40 percent of the voting shares in News Corp, is expected to maintain control of both companies.
Rupert Murdoch said in a conference call with investors that a split would result in two strong companies that have more operational flexibility and be poised for greater growth.
"We've come a long way in our journey that began nearly 60 years ago with a single newspaper operating out of Adelaide," Murdoch said, referring to the single Australian newspaper he inherited from his father and became the foundation for News Corp. "Each of these new companies would have the potential to continue that journey and prosper as an independent entity long into the future."
The split of News Corp is a symbolic turning point for its 81-year-old media mogul. Through the years, Murdoch kept a fondness for newspapers even as he purchased entertainment companies. In hearings last summer before UK lawmakers, he conceded that he regularly called newspaper editors under his employ with the greeting: "What's doing?"
Investors have already given their blessing to the split, having pushed shares of the company's Class B stock up 10 percent since the news of the plan broke early on Tuesday. The shares edged down 8 cents to US$22.33 in morning trading yesterday.
Under the proposal, News Corp shareholders will get one share of common stock in the new company for each share of News Corp that they now hold.
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