Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has reached a deal to buy Shine Group, the U.K.-based television production company founded by the business magnate’s daughter Elisabeth, in a deal that values it at 415 million pounds ($673.3 million) including debt.
The all-cash transaction will bring Murdoch’s eldest daughter, at age 42, back under the News Corp. umbrella 11 years after she left as former managing director of Sky Networks.
Her return comes amid speculation about who will succeed her 79-year-old father as head of the company. Elisabeth’s brother James, 38, is considered to be the front runner to take over the media empire. He oversees a much larger portfolio, as chief executive of Europe and Asia.
Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.’s chief executive, controls the company through a family trust that holds 40 percent of the Class B voting shares.
Both siblings will report to Chase Carey, News Corp.’s deputy chairman, president and chief operating officer.
Elisabeth Murdoch is also expected to join the 15-member board along with James and her other brother, Lachlan, 39, who has no management role. Rupert Murdoch has two younger daughters, aged 9 and 7, with wife Wendi Deng.
“I could not be happier or more proud that from such modest beginnings Shine will join such an extraordinary group of companies,” Elisabeth Murdoch said in a statement.
The company said Monday it signed a non-binding letter of intent and will proceed with the necessary regulatory filings to acquire Shine, the producer of popular British shows like “MasterChef” and “Merlin.”
In a joint statement, Rupert Murdoch praised Shine’s “outstanding creative team.”
Elisabeth Murdoch left News Corp. in 2000 to start Shine and said the alliance will help prepare her company for future growth. Her job will be to continue to run Shine as its chief executive.
News Corp. is one of the world’s largest media empires, and owns the Times and Sun newspapers in Britain, the Fox News Channel and the Wall Street Journal.
News Corp. and Shine said they will continue to negotiate the final terms of the agreement, which will be subject to approval from both companies’ boards, the audit committee and the receipt of an independent fairness opinion. The companies did not say when they expect the deal to be completed; they also didn’t break out the amount of debt involved in the deal.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More