Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cosmicforce who wrote (92973)	1/8/2005 9:12:59 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 108807

Inconsistency, rumor, allegations based on circumstantial evidence, theories of conspiracy are all logical reasons for us to be vigilant regarding government operations and to cautiously investigate as indicated. None of those in and of them selves are cause enough to attack the character of government officials. However, when party loyalty comes it to play, it unfortunately seems sufficient to some folks to lower the bar.

To: cosmicforce who wrote (92973)	1/10/2005 1:56:40 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 108807

You are always going on and on about media consolidation, so I didn't want you to miss this :-) Murdoch Buys Rest of Fox Shares in $6 Billion Deal By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and GERALDINE FABRIKANT Published: January 10, 2005 Rupert Murdoch, consolidating his global media empire in the United States, will buy out the shareholders of his Fox properties for about $6 billion, executives of his company, the News Corporation, announced this morning. The deal would solidify Mr. Murdoch's control over some of the nation's most valuable media assets like the Fox broadcast network and the DirecTV satellite service and help simplify the complicated structure of the News Corporation, whose far-flung operations include newspapers, television, film and satellite assets around the globe. It also puts Mr. Murdoch in a better position to leverage his full ownership of the Fox Entertainment Group for future deals. News Corporation executives announced that holders of Fox Class A stock will receive 1.9 News Corporation shares for every share exchanged. The company's chief financial officer, David DeVoe, valued the offer at $33.54 - a 7.4 percent premium over Friday's closing price of Fox shares, which was $31.22. Fox stock traded higher this morning, opening at $34.18. The transaction, which the board of News Corporation approvedSunday night, would also make Mr. Murdoch's company an even more formidable media power in the United States. Mr. Murdoch, who gave up his Australian citizenship 19 years ago to become a United States citizen, recently reincorporated News Corporation in the United States and shifted its primary stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange from the Australian exchange. "The move underscores the simplification process: Mr. Murdoch's drive to make News Corporation a simpler and more shareholder-friendly U.S. company," said Mario Gabelli, chief investment officer of Gabelli Asset Management, whose fund owns shares of both News Corporation and Fox Entertainment. In a conference call with stock analysts this morning, Mr. DeVoe cited that desire for consolidation as the prime motive behind the announcement, which he called "a milestone in the simplification of the News Corporation's capital structure." He said the decision to spin Fox Entertainment off as a separate stock had been a way to tap into the United States investment market while News Corporation was incorporated overseas. Now that the News Corporation itself was listed here, that logic no longer applied, he said. Mr. DeVoe said the consolidation would also allow for about $3 million to $7 million in savings from reducing expenses associated with the filings required for public companies. The move to bring Fox Entertainment back inside the fold of News Corporation also gives Mr. Murdoch more flexibility to wield his deal-making muscle in the United States, where he used to have to rely on the often faltering stock price of his Fox subsidiary as leverage for deals. "This makes it easier for News Corp. to do deals. It simplifies the structure and gives it full control over the deal making process," said Harold L. Vogel, an entertainment analyst. The timing of the transaction raises questions about the status of Mr. Murdoch's feud with John C. Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media, who raised his company's investment in the News Corporation to 17 percent in November behind the back of Mr. Murdoch, who owns a 30 percent voting stake. Only a week later, News Corporation introduced a plan to thwart would-be hostile bidders and keep Mr. Murdoch in control of the company, which he plans to turn over to his sons: Lachlan, now deputy chief operating officer, and James, chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting, Mr. Murdoch's satellite TV company in Britain. "The timing is confusing because we had expected Mr. Murdoch to complete a transaction with Mr. Malone before buying in Fox," said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners. Mr. DeVoe denied today that the move was related to any possible deal with Liberty. Several analysts today questioned the price offered to Fox shareholders, which they said appeared low. Mr. DeVoe defended the price, saying that the closing price on Friday represented the stock's 52-week high. The News Corporation offer represents a 16.9 percent premium in comparison to Fox's six-month average, he said.