News Corp. Wants to Swap MySpace for 30% of Yahoo -- London Times

News Corp. is in discussions with Yahoo which would see it swapping its MySpace social network in exchange for a 30% stake in Yahoo, according to The Times of London. A 30% stake in Yahoo, based on its current market cap of about $37 billion, is worth $11.1 billion -- an astonishing jump in the value of MySpace, which was acquired by News Corp. in 2005 for $580 million. Yahoo has been eager to make inroads into social networking. Last year, it was widely reported that it failed in an attempt to acquire social networking site Facebook for $1 billion. Murdoch conceded in a recent Wall Street Journal interview that Facebook was gaining ground on MySpace. When asked whether he felt newspaper readers were spending their time on MySpace instead of reading the news, he joked, "I wish they were. They’re all going to Facebook." The Times says it is not clear whether Yahoo was willing to accept Murdoch's terms. On Tuesday, Fortune magazine reported billionaire Ron Burkle had proposed a joint bid with Yahoo for the Bancroft family's Dow Jones journalstic empire, which has already received a $60/share, $5 billion bid from News Corp.

Sources: London Times, CNBC
Commentary: Burkle and Yahoo Might Bid for Dow Jones - Fortune • Is Rupert Murdoch Overpaying For Dow Jones? • Google, Here's Your Chance To Buy Yahoo
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), News Corp. (NWS), Dow Jones & Company Inc. (DJ). Competitors: Google Inc. (GOOG)
Conference call transcript: Dow Jones Q1 2007, Yahoo! Q1 2007, News Corp. F3Q07
Related: Interview: Murdoch's Role as Proprietor, Journalist and Plans for Dow Jones

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Comments

[CrossProfit_:]

It looks like our science fiction article - www.crossprofit.com/ar... - from 05/06/2007 is about to become a reality. Perhaps a virtual reality!

2007 Jun 20 11:51 AM