Australian-born media owner Rupert Murdoch is looking at bringing Fox and News Corp back into the same company nearly a decade after they were split.
The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp, quoted “people familiar with the situation” for its report.
And later News Corp confirmed it received letters from Rupert Murdoch and the Murdoch Family Trust and would start “exploring a potential combination” with Fox Corporation.
The News Corp board of directors: “The Special Committee, consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors, will thoroughly evaluate a potential combination with Fox.”
Fox directors also formed a Special Committee composed of independent members of the board "exploring" a potential combination with News.
The Wall Street Journal says News Corp CEO Robert Thomson sent an email to staff: “At News Corp, we are constantly pursuing ways to enhance our performance and expand our businesses, and the upheaval in media presents both challenges and opportunities.
“However, I would like to stress that the Special Committee has not made any determination at this time, and there can be no certainty that any transaction will result from its evaluation.”
The Murdoch family trust has about 39% in News Corp and 42% of Fox.
Fox was split off in 2013 to get maximum value from the growing cable business. Now streaming media is on the ascendancy.
News Corp, under Thomson, has increased advertising and digital subscription revenues and positioned Dow Jones as a high value asset with premium content.
Fox’s entertainment holdings were sold to Disney for $71.3 billion in 2019.
News Corp has a market capitalisation of about $US9.31 billion and Fox $US16.84 billion.
Who would lead the new entity, with combined revenue of $US24 billion?
Thomson has lifted the value of News and he may well end up heading a bigger media business.
Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp, is also chairman of Fox. Lachlan Murdoch, his son, is co-chair of News and executive chair and CEO of Fox.
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