SYDNEY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–News Corporation today announced it has completed the sale of Foxtel Group to DAZN Group Limited.
The completion of the transaction follows DAZN receiving approval for the acquisition of Foxtel from the Foreign Investment Review Board, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and other regulatory authorities.
At completion, A$592 million in shareholder loans were repaid to News Corp, and News Corp received a minority equity interest in DAZN of approximately 6%. News Corp’s Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Andrew Cramer also joined the board of DAZN effective upon completion, and News Corp and its platforms remain committed in their passionate support for Australian sport and entertainment.
“Foxtel’s successful transformation to becoming a leading provider of sports and entertainment is a result of the team’s tenacity, creativity and professionalism. Foxtel employees should be proud of their contribution to that success in the ultra-competitive content contest,” said Robert Thomson, News Corp’s Chief Executive. “We are confident that DAZN is poised to drive the next phase of Foxtel’s growth and we are delighted to be DAZN’s partner and shareholder. And we are pleased to have extra capital strength and optionality.”
“The sale of Foxtel is significant for News Corp, and will enable greater focus on our core growth pillars, which drove over 95 percent of Total Segment EBITDA in the Company’s fiscal second quarter,” said Lavanya Chandrashekar, News Corp’s Chief Financial Officer. “It will also meaningfully strengthen our balance sheet, and should reduce future capital intensity and improve return on invested capital. We expect the disposition will also be accretive to earnings per share.”
About News Corp
News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: information services and news, digital real estate services and book publishing. Headquartered in New York, News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, and its content and other products and services are distributed and consumed worldwide. More information is available at: http://www.newscorp.com.
