News Corp climbs as board mulls split
SHARES in News Corp continued to climb yesterday while the company’s board members gathered in New York to discuss plans to separate its publishing and entertainment divisions.
New Corp’s shares added 2.5 per cent, after jumping more than eight per cent on Tuesday when it emerged that the conglomerate could finally be about to respond to investors’ calls to split off its less profitable newspaper business.
An official announcement is expected today, almost exactly one year after the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp’s UK newspapers hit the fan.
Rupert Murdoch is said to have appointed Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Centerview Partners to guide his company through the division process.
Centerview’s Blair Effron and JP Morgan’s Jimmy Lee advised News Corp on its 2007 acquisition of Dow Jones.
It is speculated that Allen & Co will advise on the deal after one of its bankers, Stan Shuman, was spotted having lunch on Tuesday with News Corp’s chief operating officer Chase Carey.