MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch-owned media conglomerate News Corp has completed the acquisition of ESPN Star Sports, an equal joint venture company that it had formed 16 years back with Walt Disney?s ESPN to rule sports broadcasting in Asia.

The acquisition is made through a wholly owned subsidiary. With this, ESS becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp.

News Corp had in June announced that it will buyout ESPN?s 50 per cent stake in ESS to become the sole owner of the sports network.

"News Corporation and ESPN today announced that News Corporation, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, completed its acquisition of ESPN?s partnership interest in ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) pursuant to their agreement announced on 6 June 2012," the company said.

In India, the deal was earlier cleared by India?s anti-competition watch dog Competition Commission of India.

ESS has footprint across 24 countries in Asia through its 25 television networks and three broadband networks. It has offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, and employs more than 650 employees across the region.

The buyout marks the exit of ESPN from the Asian market. The global sports broadcaster, however, remains present in Asia through its digital media products which include ESPNcricinfo, ESPNFC, ESPNscrum and mobileESPN.

MUMBAI: Britian‘s Pearson and Germany‘s Bertelsmann, two world‘s leading publishers, have collaborated to create the world‘s leading consumer publishing organisation by combining Penguin and Random House. The collaboration comes at a time when the publishing industry is facing stiff competition from e-book publishers like Amazon and Apple.

Under the terms of the agreement, Penguin and Random House will combine their businesses in a newly-created joint venture named Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann will own 53 per cent of the joint venture and Pearson will own 47 per cent. The joint venture will exclude Bertelsmann‘s trade publishing business in Germany and Pearson will retain rights to use the Penguin brand in education markets worldwide.

The agreement comes in the wake of Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp showing interest in acquiring Pearson which together with Harper Collins publishing unit would have helped the media conglomerate in expanding its publishing business.

Bertelsmann will nominate five directors to the Board of Penguin Random House and Pearson will nominate four. John Makinson, currently chairman and chief executive of Penguin, will be chairman of Penguin Random House and Markus Dohle, currently chief executive of Random House, will be its chief executive.

In reviewing the long-term trends and considerable change affecting the consumer publishing industry, Pearson and Bertelsmann both concluded that the publishing and commercial success of Penguin and Random House can best be sustained and enhanced through a partnership with another major international publishing house.

They believe that the combined organisation will have a stronger platform and greater resources to invest in rich content, new digital publishing models and high-growth emerging markets. The organisation will generate synergies from shared resources such as warehousing, distribution, printing and central functions.

Pearson and Bertelsmann intend that the combined organisation‘s level of organic investment in authors and new product models will exceed the total investment of Penguin and Random House as independent publishing houses.

The two companies believe that the combination will create a highly successful new organisation, both creatively and commercially, with the breadth and investment capacity to deliver significant benefits. Readers will have access to a wider and more diverse range of frontlist and backlist content in multiple print and digital formats. Authors will gain a greater depth and breadth of service, from traditional frontlist publishing to innovative self-publishing, on a global basis.

Employees of the new organisation will be part of the world‘s first truly global consumer publishing company, committed to sustained editorial excellence and long-term investment in a rich diversity of content. And shareholders will benefit from participating in the consolidation of the consumer publishing industry without having to deploy additional capital.

The combination is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals, including merger control clearances, and is expected to complete in the second half of 2013.

In 2011, Random House reported revenues of ?1.7 billion (?1.48 bn) and operating profit of ?185 million (?161m). Penguin reported revenues of ?1.0 billion and operating profit of ?111 million with total assets of ?1.0 billion. After completion, Pearson will report its 47 per cent share of profit after tax from the joint venture as an associate in its consolidated income statement.

Under the terms of the agreement, neither Pearson nor Bertelsmann may sell any part of their shareholding in Penguin Random House for three years. To protect Pearson‘s interests as a minority shareholder, if Bertelsmann declines a Pearson offer to sell its entire shareholding, Pearson may require a recapitalisation by which Penguin Random House raises debt of up to 3.5x EBITDA, with a dividend distributed to shareholders in line with their ownership. In addition, from five years after completion, either partner may require an IPO of Penguin Random House.

Pengion Chairman and CEO John Makinson said, "All of us who work in book publishing experience every day the breathtaking pace of change in our industry. The partnership that we are announcing today will position Penguin Random House at the forefront of that change. Our access to investment resources will allow us to take risks with new authors, to defend our creative and editorial independence, to publish the broadest range of books on the planet, and to do it all with the attention to quality that has always characterised both our great companies."

Random House Chairman & CEO Markus Dohle added, "Our new company will bring together the publishing expertise, experience, and skill sets of two of the world‘s most successful, enduring trade book publishers. In doing so, we will create a publishing home that gives employees, authors, agents, and booksellers access to unprecedented resources. I deeply believe that the support and services that we will be able to offer, coupled with the creative and editorial independence that we will continue to maintain, will benefit everyone in the book publishing environment, especially our passionate readers from today‘s generation to the next."

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate owner News Corp is said to be readying an offer for publisher Penguin.

Media reports state that Penguin is valued at $1.6 billion by News Corp. News Corp owns HarperCollins Publishers. A union would create the world?s biggest consumer-book publisher.

This could spoil talks about an all-share merger between Pearson?s Penguin and Bertelsmann?s Random House. Random House hit pay dirt with ?Fifty Shades of Grey?. Bertelsmann will have 60 per cent of the new business if the deal with Pearson is successful. This union would have a 30 per cent marketshare share of English book sales.

MUMBAI: News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch is eyeing Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune from its financially struggling owner Tribune Co to bolster his print business, which boasts of Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

The company wants to secure a foothold in Los Angeles and Chicago and is in early talks with Tribune Co debt holders which includes hedge fund Oaktree Capital.

Murdoch is looking to buy the Los Angeles Times from struggling media conglomerate Tribune Co, whose books were recently examined by News Corp executives and Murdoch‘s son James Murdoch as part of due diligence process.

However, Murdoch‘s plan to expand his newspaper business might face regulatory hurdles since News Corp also owns TV stations in both the markets. Federal Communications Commission rules prevent media ownership of a newspaper and TV station in the same market.

Murdoch might also have to battle other potential bidders such as venture capitalist and ex-LA deputy mayor Austin Beutner, Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushnere, and San Diego real estate mogul Doug Manchester.

The move is seen as a precursor to News Corp‘s decision to split the television and film business from the loss making print business. This coincides with Murdoch‘s forced retrenchment from part of the print business in the UK.

The American print market has been battling declining circulation and advertising revenue since 2007 with ad revenue dropping almost 50 per cent to $24 billion, according to the Newspaper Association of America. But Murdoch sees promise in consolidating the market and also having an online extension of the print publications.

In 2011, News Corp was ravaged by phone hacking scandal at its UK publishing business which led to the shutting down of News of the World newspaper.

MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch has once again proved his critics wrong getting re-elected as the chairman and chief executive officer of News Corporation at the company‘s annual general meeting in Los Angeles Tuesday.

Murdoch overcame opposition from shareholders who were hell bent on cutting him and his members to size by getting both his sons - Lachlan and James Murdoch - re-elected. Shareholders also re-elected the rest of the company‘s returning board members even as angry shareholders criticised Murdoch and the control that he wields on the company.

The Murdochs have been going through the worst phase of their lives ever since the phone hacking scandal broke out at its UK publishing business News International which led to the closure of News of the World and arrest of employees.

The scandal also led to a huge furore in UK and subsequently US about the company‘s corporate governance structure. It also diluted the power that Murdoch once wielded in UK and exposed them to tough action from UK authorities.

While only five per cent of investors voted against re-electing Murdoch during this year‘s meeting which is in sharp contrast to last year‘s when 16 per cent shareholders had voted against his re-election. But last years AGM was held at the height of phone hacking scandal which subsided with the Ofcom giving clean to News Corp‘s broadcast business BSkyB.

However the sons were not as lucky as their father with 17 per cent shareholders voting against James and 21 per cent against Lachlan.

It is News Corps dual class shareholding that helped Murdoch to sail through amidst opposition from powerful pension fund outfits that wanted to curtail the power of Murdoch family and separation of chairman and CEO‘s post.

The Murdoch family holds 12 per cent but its dual class shareholding structure gives it 40 per cent of the voting power. Add to that the backing of second largest investor Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who holds seven per cent in the media conglomerate. The dual structure gives Prince Al-Waleed almost 20 per cent voting power.

Meanwhile, 28 per cent shareholders voted in support of eliminating the division between voting and non-voting shares.

During his AGM speech Murdoch asserted that the media conglomerate has strengthened its corporate governance across the globe with modernisation of compliance across the board.

The company has appointed Gerson Zweifach as Chief Compliance Officer and compliance structure has been divided into five groups to cover all the regions.

"We have acknowledged the serious wrongdoing that occurred at some of our publications in the United Kingdom. As a result, we have had to work hard to make amends. But just as important, we seized the moment as an opportunity to strengthen our governance and our organization in key ways.

"Under the guidance of our general counsel Gerson Zweifach -- who now also serves as our Chief Compliance Officer -- we‘ve modernized our entire system of compliance from top to bottom.

"We‘ve organized this new global structure into five compliance groups that together cover every region where we operate and every business within it.

"We‘ve imposed strict, uniform policies with centralized oversight. We‘ve improved employee training. We‘ve also imposed more auditing and testing, so that we can fix any problem by identifying it early. And we‘ve backed it all up by appointing top-notch professionals who have a track record that cannot be questioned-- including a former director of enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a former U.S. federal prosecutor."

He also said that there will be special emphasis on UK since the phone hacking scandal took part in that market. He also claimed that the company‘s other publications did not not any sort of wrongdoing.

"Because these problems were based in the United Kingdom, we‘ve put a special emphasis on our operations there. As you might expect, this has meant especially rigorous internal reviews. And we have confirmed that the problems in the United Kingdom were not found at our other publications.

"Our findings were born out by the recent, in-depth report by Ofcom, the United Kingdon‘s independent media regulator. After looking at the evidence related to phone hacking, Ofcom found no basis for concluding that News Corporation acted inappropriately in any way."

Murdoch also acknowledged that the company is going through one of the worst period in its history. He also said that despite all the problems that inflicted the company it has continue to grow.

"This has been a difficult period in our company‘s 50-year history. However, I believe the numbers will bear out that the market likes the work we are doing and has confidence in our future. Since addressing shareholders a year ago, our stock price has risen nearly 45 per cent," he added.

And to take this growth to the next level the company is being split into two separate trading companies which will also help it unlock more value for its media and entertainment unit.

"Let me conclude with what you know is our biggest potential change and opportunity in the coming year: the transformation of one of the world‘s most successful media companies into two separate, publicly-traded companies. One will be focused on news, publishing and education. The other will focus on media and entertainment.

"We are pursuing this for a simple reason. Notwithstanding our success, our company is undervalued. With this separation, we will free up each company to better deliver on its promises to customers across the globe. As we do, it will also mean unlocking more value for our shareholders.

"As we head into this future, the company you know will be replaced by two dynamic new ones with separate names and different missions. But they will be driven by the same ethos of creativity, competition and entrepreneurship that has always been at the heart of our efforts.

"This split will take time, but it is my expectation that by the end of the calendar year, we will be ready to announce more details about the executive management structures and Board memberships. I am deeply excited and energised by this future, and I hope you are as well."

MUMBAI: News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch is in the line of fire ahead of the company‘s 16 October annual general meeting with the Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA) voting to remove Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan Murdoch from the News Corp board.

According to Daily Telegraph, FSBA with assets worth $150 billion under its control has backed calls for an independent chairman to be appointed, and voted for the abolition of News Corp?s dual-class share structure, which hands the Murdochs a disproportionate amount of power.

FSBA is the latest among the list of powerful pension funds to have called for Murdoch‘s head. The funds believe that Murdoch has compromised on the corporate governance.

Earlier, California Public Employees? Retirement System (Calpers) and the California State Teachers? Retirement System (Calstrs), the two largest pension funds in America with combined assets of nearly $400 billion, have voted him out. The Calpers and Calstrs had also called on News Corp to split the roles of chairman and chief executive.

However, Murdoch is unperturbed by these developments. ?Any shareholders with complaint should take profits and sell!? the unabashed Murdoch had posted on his Twitter account.

Murdoch is banking on arithmetics to sail through the current crisis. The Murdoch family holds 12 per cent but its dual class shareholding structure gives it 40 per cent of the voting power.

Add to that the backing of second largest investor Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who holds seven per cent in the media conglomerate. The dual structure gives Prince Al-Waleed almost 20 per cent voting power.

With 60 per cent voting power in its kitty, the Murdoch family has the ability to push through their decisions and at the same time stall decisions that might not be in their interest.

And much to Murdoch‘s relief, ISS, the influential US shareholder advisory body, has thrown its weight behind Murdoch after calling for his removal from News Corp at the height of phone hacking scandal.

A year ago ISS wanted no less than 13 of the 15 directors to be rejected. However in an about turn, it has thrown its weight behind all the directors.

Talking of phone hacking, former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks was reportedly given a payout package worth about ?7 million pounds after stepping down following the phone hacking scandal.