News Corporation To Acquire Liberty’s Interests in Fox Entertainment

News Corporation, one of the world’s largest media companies, has announced that it is to acquire all of Liberty Media Corporation’s 50% interest in Fox/ Liberty Networks. In a complex deal worth US$1.43 billion, AT&T Corp’s Liberty will swap a half stake in a regional sports network joint venture for News Corp American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

News Corp also said that it would buy back 56.2 million of its non-voting ADRs from MCI WorldCom for US$1.39 billion, and AT&T’s Liberty would buy 28.1 million of these ADRs at the same price.

Confirmation of the deal saw investors scramble for shares, mirroring a sharp rise in News Corp’s ADRs in the United States on Monday.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, commented: “This deal will enable us to leverage more fully the FOX brand across our cable and broadcast properties while giving us added flexibility over our sports and entertainment channels.”

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