In a move that would give News Corporation a larger foothold in the lucrative pay TV business in Australia, Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate said it has agreed to pay roughly $2.2 billion to acquire Consolidated Media Holdings.
In a statement released early Wednesday in Sydney, News Corporation said that if approved by Australian regulators the takeover would “double its stakes in Australia’s leading pay television business, Fox Sports Australia and Foxtel, to 100% and 50% respectively.”
Telstra Corp., an Australian telecommunications firm, owns the other half of Foxtel.
James Packer, an Australian casino and media mogul, controls Consolidated Media. Mr. Packer said Wednesday in a statement that he looks forward “to CMH and News working together to address the detailed terms and conditions” of the takeover.
The deal will face a lengthy review by Australian regulators and represents News Corporation’s largest investment in pay TV since its $12 billion bid to acquire the portion of British Sky Broadcasting it did not already own. News Corporation abandoned that bid last summer amid scrutiny related to the phone hacking scandal that engulfed its British newspaper unit.
The $2 billion bid for Consolidated Media also marks the largest potential acquisition for News Corporation after a period of relative stagnation in the aftermath of the scandal in Britain.
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