Murdoch's News Corp. Adopts "Poison Pill"
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBXDMG7B1E.html
NEW YORK (AP) - News Corp., the media conglomerate
controlled by Rupert Murdoch, announced Monday that
it was adopting a "poison pill" defense following
an unexpected maneuver by media investor John Malone
last week that could nearly double his voting control
in the company to 17 percent.
Last week Malone's investment vehicle, Liberty Media Corp.,
made a transaction with Merrill Lynch that could allow
Liberty to increase its voting stake in News Corp.
from 9 percent to 17 percent in the next six months.
Under the deal, Liberty would be able to convert some
of its non-voting stock in News Corp. to voting shares.
News Corp., caught off guard, said in a statement Monday
that it had adopted a defense strategy called a shareholder
rights plan, commonly known as a "poison pill," that
would allow the Murdoch family and other shareholders
besides Malone to acquire News Corp. stock at half-price
in the event that a shareholder other than the Murdochs
acquires 15 percent or more of the company's voting stock.
The Murdochs already own nearly 30 percent of News Corp.
Murdoch has been grooming his sons, James and Lachlan,
to take over leadership in News Corp. one day.
The announcement from Liberty came on Wednesday, the same
day that News Corp. reported earnings for its first fiscal
quarter and also announced that it had received court
approval in Australia for its plan to reincorporate in
the United States. News Corp. said Monday that Liberty's
action "was taken without any discussion with, or prior
notice to, News Corporation."
The moves indicate a cooling in relations between Murdoch,
who built up News Corp. into a major global media empire
starting with a newspaper in Australia, and Malone,
a pioneer of the cable television industry who is now a
formidable media investor. His Englewood, Colo.-based
Liberty owns the home shopping network QVC as well as
stakes in Discovery Communications Inc. and Court TV,
along with other properties.
Concerned that the moves could be expensive to Murdoch,
investors sent the company's shares down 4 percent in
Australia. In New York, News Corp.'s shares fell 66 cents,
or 3.7 percent, to close at $17.10 Monday on the
New York Stock Exchange, where they are currently trading
on what's called a "when-issued" basis ahead of their
formal listing on the exchange this Friday. Liberty's
shares fell 12 cents to close at $9.51 on the NYSE.
_______________________________________________
---
http://arbustomosquito.blogspot.com/
.
|
