News Corp stock is up 6.3 percent to $21.55 and hit a $21.97 52-week high today on news that CEO Rupert Murdoch may okay the split of the media combine.
Its Wall Street Journal property floated the idea that Murdoch, who long opposed a split-up of his film/TV businesses from the newspaper/publishing and education holdings, has now “warmed to the idea” in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that resulted in the shutdown of the News of the World tabloid.
British regulators are determining whether News Corp., which has a 39 percent stake in BSkyB satellite TV, is a “fit and proper” owner.
The Murdoch family would maintain its 40 percent ownership in a carved-up News Corp since any transaction would be structured along the lines of Viacom’s 2006 spin-out of CBS, which kept Sumner Redstone in control of both companies.
News Corp. film/TV properties include 20th Century Fox, Fox News and the Fox broadcast network, while print assets are Times of London, New York Post, Sun, Australian and HarperCollins book publishing.