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News Corp break up?

June 26, 2012

News Corporation is pondering a split into two companies, separating its publishing arm from the far larger entertainment division, thereby removing a drag on the stock price and the reputational taint from the criminal behaviour at its UK newspapers. The report first appeared in the WSJ, a News Corp paper, and hasn’t been denied.

The split, which may take the form of a corporate spinoff, would create a publishing business that included The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, The New York Post and the HarperCollins book-publishing business. A media company would contain Fox Network, holdings in Sky and Star DTH operations around the world, and the movie studio.

The Murdoch family would retain control of the split companies under such a scenario, this person said.

News Corporation’s chief operating officer, Chase Carey, said publicly earlier this year that the company’s management team had considered a split. But at the time, he said, no decision had been made.

 

 

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