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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Harvey Allen who wrote (52403)	10/30/2000 1:06:45 AM
From: Dan Spillane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Re: MSFT Investment in News Corp/interactive TV. On the B-Square (BSQR) conference call the other day, they seemed unsure of how strongly Microsoft was going to push interactive TV. Looks like it will be very strongly! Microsoft eyes Sky Global stake Analysts say may help News Corp get better IPO price By Vivian Chu, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 12:17 AM ET Oct 30, 2000 NewsWatch Latest headlines MELBOURNE (CBS.MW) -- Shares of News Corp. rose sharply Monday morning on reports that Microsoft may buy a 3.5 percent stake in the media conglomerate's soon-to-be-listed satellite assets arm. Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) is in talks with Melbourne-based News Corp and may invest over $1 billion in Sky Global Networks Inc., the recently formed unit comprising all of News Corp.'s worldwide satellite TV assets, reported the Australia Financial Review. A News Corp. spokesman was not immediately available for comment. By mid-day, ordinary shares of News Corp (NWS: news, msgs) rose 3.2 percent at 20.40 Australian dollars, while its preferred shares gained 4.4 percent at 17.50 Australian dollars. Both issues comprise roughly 14 percent of the All Ordinaries Index, which was up 0.62 percent. "Shares are rallying on this news. Effectively News Corp. is trying to get enough strategic investors ahead of the IPO, and once they get enough the rest will be sold through a proper IPO," said a trader at Salomon Smith Barney in Sydney. "Getting enough investors makes it more likely the IPO will get a better price for News Corp., and makes it more likely the IPO will happen earlier," she added. News Corp. had originally planned to spin off Sky Global Networks in a global offering before the end of the year, in what News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch said would be the biggest-ever media IPO. But volatility in media and tech shares has forced the company to postpone the issue, most likely until early next year. For Microsoft, the deal would allow it to roll out its interactive TV software across News Corp.'s network. The U.S. software giant ahs already struck deals with cable giants such as AT&T (ATT: news, msgs), which will use Microsoft's technology in television set-top boxes. Earlier, News Corp. held talks with potential investors Yahoo (YHOO: news, msgs), France's Vivendi (V: news, msgs), and Finland's Nokia (NOKBF: news, msgs). cbs.marketwatch.com