News Corp sells stake in Fairfax Media for $312 m
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has sold its entire 7.5% stake in rival Australian company Fairfax Media for around A$380 million (US$312 million), both companies said Monday.
By Agencies |
SYDNEY: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has sold its entire 7.5% stake in rival Australian company Fairfax Media for around A$380 million (US$312 million), both companies said Monday. Reasons for the sale weren’t given, but it comes less than a week after Murdoch launched a US$5 billion (e3.7 billion) bid for Down Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, in an effort to expand his global media empire in the United States.
Fairfax chairman Ron Walker said News had informed the company that it had sold its 75 million shares at A$5.07-a-share. News confirmed the sale, without giving reasons. Fairfax shares dropped A$0.15 on Monday and were trading at A$5.12.
News Corp purchased the stake in Fairfax, which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, in October last year, describing it as a strategic and friendly investment. Analysts speculated Australian-born Murdoch wanted a seat at the table in any split up of Fairfax following changes to Australia’s media ownership laws last month.
Analysts said he may have had his eye on the Australian Financial Review to add to his existing newspaper titles in Australia, which include Melbourne’s Herald Sun and the national Australian newspaper. Murdoch last week said News Corp had made the US$60-a-share offer for Dow Jones, a bid that has been met opposition from key shareholders, including controlling shareholder the Bancroft family.
Some dealers said Murdoch may have sold the stake in Fairfax to help finance the Dow Jones bid, although noted the cash freed up by the sale was small in the grander scale.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
