News Corp seals $2 bn Australia pay-TV deal

Deal will double stake of News Corp's Australian unit in the nation's dominant pay-TV business Foxtel to 50%

Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd agreed to back a revised takeover offer from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp of A$2 billion, giving News Corp a greater share of the nation's pay-TV market.

A successful takeover clears the way for CMH's largest shareholder, billionaire James Packer, to exit the last of his media ventures as he focuses on gambling.

The deal will double the stake of News Corp's Australian unit in the nation's dominant pay-TV business Foxtel to 50 percent and give it 100 percent of content provider Fox Sports.

CMH said the binding proposal from News Corp represented an implied multiple of 9.4 times forward earnings, as well as a premium of 15 percent to the average share price over the past three months.

 

"In my view, this is a great outcome for CMH shareholders and for News and it reflects a fair price," Packer said in a statement.

Packer, who has built stakes in casinos in Australia, London, and Macau, had indicated he would accept the original offer in June. News revised its offer to take account of a dividend payment.

A sale would see Packer all but exit what was once a media empire, built up over decades by his father Kerry Packer and grandfather Sir Frank Packer, apart from a 10 percent stake in television company Ten Network .

News Corp's Australian unit News Ltd had previously offered A$3.50 per CMH share.

The new bid is A$3.45 per share plus a dividend of A$0.06 for a total of A$3.51 per share.