MUMBAI: The Murdoch family has been holding talks with the Walt Disney Co. to sell most of 21st Century Fox, barring its news and sports assets, CNBC reports, citing people familiar with the developments.
In addition to the movie studio, TV production and international assets such as Star India and Sky, Disney would also add entertainment networks such as FX and National Geographic into its portfolio of network channels.
According to the US business news channel, talks have taken place on and off over the last few weeks but there is no certainty they will lead to a deal.
As per CNBC, the senior management (read the Murdochs) believe that a more tightly focused group of properties around news and sports could compete more effectively in a media landscape that has altered considerably in recent years with online giants such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Netflix not only changing the way people consume media, but also dominating the digital distribution of digital video content.
Speaking of news and sports, what would be of interest to the Indian marketplace is whether the Murdochs, keeping to the stated plan of focusing on sports and news, carve out Star Sports from Star India in the event the sale talks come to fruition.
If so, we could well see Star Sports operating in India in much the same way Disney’s sports arm ESPN did earlier as ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, which was a separate entity from the Disney family of channels beaming into India.
If not, we could well see Star exiting a television media marketplace it has been an intrinsic part of since 1992 and dominated since the iconic Kaun Banega Crorepati game show and Balaji’s “K” soap operas dramatically changed Indian television consumption habits in 2000.
Meanwhile, while CNBC did not offer any clear indicators on the contemplated structure of the deal or the price discussed, analysts have put the value of the 21st Century Fox assets on sale at anywhere between $20-30 billion.
That such a deal would have full market support was reflected in the way the stocks of both media conglomerates responded after the news broke on CNBC in the US on Monday. Financial Times reports that Fox shares rose more than 7 per cent, pushing its market value above $49 billion, while the stock price of Disney, which has a market value of nearly $155 billion, rose 1.65 per cent.
