New Fox Begins Trading, Names New Directors Including Paul Ryan -- 2nd Update
March 19 2019 - 12:14PM
Dow Jones News
By Allison Prang and Benjamin Mullin
Fox Corp. started trading as a standalone company Tuesday
following a spinoff from 21st Century Fox and named a number of
directors, including Paul Ryan, former speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives, to its board.
The new Fox, which holds Fox's TV assets including Fox News, the
Fox broadcast network and television stations, and Fox Sports, also
appointed Anne Dias, Roland Hernandez and Chase Carey to its
board.
Fox shares were down 3% in morning trading in New York.
Mr. Hernandez, the chief executive of Hernandez Media Ventures,
served as CEO of Telemundo Group Inc. from 1995 to 2000. Ms. Dias
founded media-focused investment fund Aragon Global Holdings. Mr.
Carey the chairman and CEO of Formula 1, held various top posts at
21st Century Fox and was vice chairman until this year.
Mr. Ryan, the Republican Party's nominee for vice president in
2012, left his role as Speaker of the House this year.
Walt Disney Co. is acquiring the remaining 21st Century Fox
entertainment assets for $71.3 billion, a deal that is expected to
close Wednesday. Disney is purchasing production businesses such as
the Twentieth Century Fox studio, U.S. cable networks including FX
and National Geographic and international properties including Star
India. It also will acquire Fox's stake in streaming-video service
Hulu.
The acquisition of 21st Century Fox's assets and content
libraries will help Disney compete with established streaming
giants like Netflix Inc. and up-and-coming competitors such as
Warner Media and Apple Inc. Disney is launching a streaming
service, Disney+, later this year, part of the company's broader
strategy to offer films, scripted television shows and live sports
directly to consumers.
With its major entertainment and international assets sold, Fox
Corp. is planning to focus on sports and news specifically for the
U.S. market.
Rupert Murdoch and his family are significant shareholders in
both Fox Corp. and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp.
Lachlan Murdoch is the chairman and chief executive of the new
Fox, , while Rupert Murdoch is serving as co-chairman. James
Murdoch, Lachlan's younger brother, is not expected to have a role
at the new company and is starting an investment fund targeting
digital and international media businesses, people familiar with
the matter have said.
Some executives from 21st Century Fox are joining Disney
including 21st Century Fox President Peter Rice and top television
executives Dana Walden and John Landgraf. On the film side, Emma
Watts, the vice chairman of the Twentieth Century Fox studio, has
been named as the vice chairman of Twentieth Century Fox film label
at Disney. Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula, the heads of Fox
Searchlight Pictures, will continue in those roles.
Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com and Benjamin
Mullin at Benjamin.Mullin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2019 11:59 ET (15:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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