Hysteria made me drop Sky bid: Murdoch July 19, 2011 RUPERT Murdoch yesterday blamed “hysteria” for his decision to drop a takeover bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB. In comments that underlined his anger at having to drop New Corp’s offer for the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own, the media mogul suggested his competitors and detractors had capitalised on the public [...]
WHAT NEXT FOR NEWS CORP (AND HOW HOT COULD IT GET)? July 13, 2011 RETURNS FOR BID IN A YEAR Murdoch didn’t build the world’s most powerful media empire without overcoming some major hurdles along the way. Calling time on the bid when he did stopped a parliamentary vote that would have rendered green-lighting any future approach politically untenable. Cameron has called on him to “clean his own house” [...]
News Corp puts Sky bid on hold July 11, 2011 ■ Competition Commission probe to last up to a year ■ Gordon Brown says sick son was target of News Int NEWS CORP yesterday made the shock decision to effectively put its bid for BSkyB on ice for up to a year. Rupert Murdoch’s firm withdrew concessions made to the media watchdog over the takeover, triggering [...]
Bargain hunters should start fishing – but broadcaster is not without risks July 11, 2011 THE sell-off in BSkyB continued apace yesterday, as arbitrage traders piled out of the stock faster than you could shout “the deal is off”. The satellite broadcaster is still a brilliant company, however – one of Britain’s best: bargain hunters should take note. Analysts at Citi point out that BSkyB was trading at 600p a [...]
Phone hacking scandal widens to other Murdoch papers July 11, 2011 Former prime minister Gordon Brown is the latest alleged victim of phone hacking by newspapers – but it is believed to be the Sunday Times that used his personal details in press reports. The allegations mark an explosive turning point in the phone hacking scandal that has to date focused solely on the paper’s stablemate [...]
Ofcom eyes News Corp ‘fit and proper’ probe July 8, 2011 Media watchdog Ofcom has released a letter it has presented to the chairman of the House of Commons culture committee, over News Corp’s proposed takeover of broadcaster BSkyB. Ofcom’s letter to MP John Whittingdale made clear its awareness that it can commission an investigation into whether New Corp would make a “fit and proper” owner [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES STANDARD LIFE COMES UNDER FIRE FOR RAISING FUND FEES Financial advisers have threatened to pull millions of pounds out of Standard Life Investments after the provider took the unusual step of raising fees on some of its funds, bucking the trend for fund managers to cut headline costs for investors. SLI said that [...]
NEWS CORP FEARS DELAY TO SKY BID July 6, 2011 NEWS Corp bosses yesterday feared they may be forced to delay the firm’s multi billion pound bid for BSkyB, as the toxic political and commercial fallout of the phone hacking scandal continued to gather pace. Bankers close to the deal told City A.M. that negotiations have ground to a halt while both sides consider the [...]
FIT AND PROPER TEST July 6, 2011 Q.COULD OFCOM STOP NEWS CORP’S BID FOR BSKYB? A.No. But it could intervene once News Corp has bought the satellite company and withdraw its broadcasting licence on the grounds that it is not a “fit and proper” owner of television channels. Q.IS OFCOM LIKELY TO SAY NEWS CORP DOESN’T PASS THE TEST? A.It doesn’t have [...]
Advertisers snub Murdoch tabloid July 5, 2011 A string of top companies yesterday said they could pull advertising from the News of the World as the phone hacking crisis engulfing the newspaper continued to escalate. Ford said it will not place adverts in this weekend’s edition and companies including nPower, Halifax and Everything Everywhere say they are considering cutting ads in light [...]