People familiar with those talks,who requested anonymity to speak freely,said the potential deal will be worth more than US$3 billion ($4.3 billion) and was enough to have changed the prospect of a tie-up between Fox and News Corp.The Financial Times reports News Corp would sell the entirety of its 80 per cent stake under the plans. News Corp confirmed the plans in a statement to the ASX and NASDAQ.
News Corp owns about 80 per cent of Move,while the remaining 20 per cent is held by REA Group. When the deal was signed in 2014 for US$950 million,Thomson said News Corp would market the real-estate platform through its mastheadsThe New York Post andThe Wall Street Journal. It is not clear whether this would continue under a new deal.
“Any potential transaction would support News Corp’s strategy to optimise the value of its digital real estate services segment,while strengthening Realtor.com’s competitive position in the market,” the company said in a statement.
The sale,if it goes ahead,is not expected to directly impact News Corp’s local real-estate listings company,REA Group,but it does raise questions of whether News Corp has similar plans to reduce its 61.6 per cent stake locally. REA Group released a statement to the ASX confirming talks,but said there is no guarantee a transaction will be completed.
News Corp announced it had set up a special board committee of independent directors in October. The group is assessing the viability of a deal that would combine Fox Corporation,which runs the cable TV network and wagering company FoxBet,with the traditional publishing and real-estate assets includingThe Wall Street Journal,The Times andThe Australian.
But the potential transaction was fiercely opposed by major shareholders including US investment giant T Rowe Price and Independent Franchise Partners,who thought that the merged company would be worth less on the stock market than the individual groups.