Rupert Murdoch calls off proposed Fox-News Corp merger

LTC Eugene Chu
..."Murdoch had split up the companies in 2013. The Murdoch family trust controls about 40% of the voting rights of both companies.

At the time, the thinking behind the reunion would have been to simply give the merged company greater scale to compete at a time when media companies are competing for subscribers and digital advertising spending, CNBC previously reported.

The potential merger had faced opposition from shareholders in recent months, who didn’t believe a merger would show the true value of News Corp. if it merged with Fox.

Some shareholders, like Independent Franchise Partners, believed the merger wouldn’t have realized the full potential value of News Corp, and other alternatives, such as a breakup of News Corp, should have been considered. The London firm is one of the largest shareholders in both News Corp and Fox that isn’t Murdoch.

Irenic Capital Management was another shareholder that pushed back on the proposed merger, saying Fox didn’t serve News Corp’s strategic goals. Both Irenic and Independent Franchise believe News Corp shares are undervalued. Class A shares of Fox closed at $32.67 on Tuesday, while News Corp’s Class A shares closed at $19.53."...