News Corporation has confirmed it will split its media and entertainment businesses from its publishing assets, in a move that will see most of the company's Australian interests integrated into the new publishing arm.
The publishing company would comprise of the majority of News Corp's Australian assets, including Foxtel, Fox Sports and News Limited, which publishes mastheads including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun.
It would also consist of News Corp's newspapers in the UK and US, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The Sun and The Times. News Corp's information businesses, its book publishing brands including HarperCollins, its digital education group and its integrated marketing services company will also be integrated into the publishing group.
The media and entertainment company would be comprised of News Corp's broadcasting and filmed entertainment assets, which include Twentieth Century Fox Film studios, Twentieth Century Fox Television, US cable news channel Fox News, UK news channel BSkyB, Fox Broadcasting and the international variants of Fox Sports.
“Our board and I believe that this new corporate structure we are pursuing would accelerate News Corporation's businesses to grow to new heights ... and unlock even greater long-term shareholder value,” said News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch.
Murdoch said News Corp's extensive portfolio of “broad” and diverse assets had “become increasingly complex” as time passed. The new structure will streamline and increase the flexibility of the media giant's operations, he said.
The board of News Corporation authorised the pursuit of the split – which is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals – following a board meeting in the US yesterday.
Should the split go ahead, current News Corp shareholders would hold interests in both the publishing and entertainment companies.
Murdoch has confirmed he will serve as chief executive of the media and entertainment business and chairman of both companies.
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