John Corn
03-18-03, 12:44 PM
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp moved on Tuesday to raise fresh cash on the back of its stake in Britain's BSkyB, in what analysts saw as a tactic to help fund a bid for U.S. satellite TV company DirecTV.
A U.S. unit of News Corp. said it was raising $1.35 billion through a bond convertible into shares of UK satellite TV operator BSkyB -- a transaction that could theoretically see News Corp sell down its BSkyB stake to help bank a takeover of DirecTV parent Hughes Electronics Corp..
Murdoch has made no secret of his interest in America's largest U.S. satellite TV operator to fill a hole in News Corp's global portfolio which currently spans a 35.4 percent stake in BSkyB, newspapers in Britain and Australia and Asia's Star TV.
The $1.35 billion proceeds, which could rise to $1.5 billion depending on demand for the bond, will be used partly to refinance existing debt. News Corp said it would use $715 million to pay down a current exchangeable security.
Rest of the story (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030318/media_nm/newscorp_3)
A U.S. unit of News Corp. said it was raising $1.35 billion through a bond convertible into shares of UK satellite TV operator BSkyB -- a transaction that could theoretically see News Corp sell down its BSkyB stake to help bank a takeover of DirecTV parent Hughes Electronics Corp..
Murdoch has made no secret of his interest in America's largest U.S. satellite TV operator to fill a hole in News Corp's global portfolio which currently spans a 35.4 percent stake in BSkyB, newspapers in Britain and Australia and Asia's Star TV.
The $1.35 billion proceeds, which could rise to $1.5 billion depending on demand for the bond, will be used partly to refinance existing debt. News Corp said it would use $715 million to pay down a current exchangeable security.
Rest of the story (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030318/media_nm/newscorp_3)