The Murdoch family would likely retain control of the entities, according to The Wall Street Journal's own story about the deliberations. Murdoch has previously opposed such a move, but has recently warmed to the idea.
Should NWS proceed, it could announce its intentions to pursue a split as soon as this week, the NYT said early this morning. Both papers cited sources they didn't identify.
How long before Gannett goes this route. It's time for corporate to wake up and spin off the profit center... broadcast.
ReplyDeleteNews Corp shares up on this. Gannett wont do this because newspaper division too weak to stand on its own.
ReplyDeleteScripps did this years ago. Media General essentially did the same thing by selling print to Buffett.
ReplyDeleteThe idea is to separate under-performing assets from more profitable properties. That way you actually monetize the papers. At Gannett's current valuation, the papers (other than USA and a few others) have NO VALUE whosoever.
The papers DO have (reduced) profitability. You can sell the papers for whatever you can get, or let them slowly die on the vine.