Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp, has said that the planned flotation of Sky Global Networks may not now go ahead. In an interview with CNBC yesterday he confirmed that he was in talks with other American satellite broadcasters over plans to merge Sky Global rather than float it.
Sky Global was unveiled last April to house the satellite interests of News Corp, including the group’s 37.5% stake in BSkyB. An initial public offering for the new company was expected to be completed by the end of last year (see News Corp To Float Satellite TV Assets).
In November, however, Murdoch postponed a flotation after unsteady market conditions for media and telecoms stock placed uncertainty over the group’s forecasted earnings (see News International Performing “Brilliantly” As Sky Global Float Delayed). It has been speculated that Hughes Electronics, the publicly listed tracking stock for DirecTV, is the preferred candidate for a merger.
Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive
Media Jobs
Hello. We have downloaded cookies on your device. Some of these cookies are essential for the website to function. Others are non-essential and are used for analytics and advertising.
We need your consent for these types of cookies.
To withdraw your consent or change your cookie choices, please do this through your browser settings.
Otherwise, click OK to accept and continue.
