THE possibility of selling off News International altogether was under discussion yesterday as Rupert Murdoch met his inner circle.
Sources revealed that the global media mogul was locked in a series of meetings to specifically consider the option of dispensing with the group which owns The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times, following the closure of The News of the World.In the City, analysts said possible buyers for the titles were starting to circle as they recognised the media baron’s desire to protect the reputation of parent News Corporation from further damage after seeing its share value plummet.
One media expert said: “Murdoch has the ruthlessness to amputate the arm that is threatening the rest of News Corporation.” Alex de Groote, an analyst at Panmure, said a sale, was now a “live possibility”.
Michael Nathanson, of the investment bank Nomura, said: “Pressure is growing for News Corp to address equity returns to shareholders.”
Mr Murdoch’s flagship US title The Wall Street Journal, reporting that he was now examining selling News International, said:“News Corp has informally explored whether there were any potential buyers for its UK newspaper unit.” It is estimated that a sale could fetch about £300million.
Another option could be to spin off News International to its existing shareholders as a separate company.
taken from http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/258687/Tycoon-considers-selling-all-UK-papers
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