Rupert Murdoch started a process that could reunite his media empire, News Corp and Fox Corp disclosed yesterday, saying they would consider combining at his behest, nearly a decade after the companies split.
Both have formed special committees to review proposals of a potential combination, they said.
After years of expansion globally, Murdoch split his empire in 2013, placing the print business in newly created public entity News Corp and the TV and entertainment under 21st Century Fox.
It make sense, in this context, to reunite Fox and News Corp to create a company with complementary assets and greater scale, the person familiar with the proposal said. The combined companies would have around US$24 billion in revenue.
Murdoch, 91, currently has near-controlling stakes in both the companies. His son Lachlan Murdoch is chairman and CEO of Fox Corp
As of market-close yesterday, News Corp had a market cap of US$9.31 billion and Fox Corp was US$16.84 billion, according to Refinitiv. News Corp shares surged 5 per cent and Fox rose about 1 per cent in after-market trade.
The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day. — REUTERS
