Fox Merger faces Challenges
2022.11.23 10:47
Fox Merger faces Challenges
Budrigannews.com – News Corp.’s largest investor, Independent Franchise Partners (NASDAQ:) what’s more, Fox Corp, said on Wednesday it goes against news head honcho Rupert Murdoch’s arrangement to recombine the organizations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news earlier in the day, the London-based investment firm told a special committee of News Corp’s board last month that it believes a combination on its own would fail to realize the company’s full value.
The second investor to voice disapproval of the plan is Independent, which holds 6.4% of Fox Corp. and approximately 7% of News Corp.’s Class A shares.
Irenic Capital, a shareholder in News Corp., offered a spin-off of the media company’s digital real estate business or Dow Jones as an alternative to the merger earlier this week.
Fox did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and News Corp declined to comment on the WSJ report.
In morning trading, News Corp. shares gained about 1%, while Fox shares gained slightly.
Nearly a decade after transferring his print business to the newly formed public entity News Corp and the television and entertainment businesses to 21st Century Fox, Murdoch made the proposal to reunite his media empire in October.
Numerous analysts have expressed concerns regarding the merger, stating that News Corp should simplify by selling or spinning off assets rather than recombining with Fox.
Craig Huber, an analyst at Huber Research Partners, had stated to Budrigannews on Monday that Irenic Capital’s disapproval of the merger would attract additional investors.
