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Monday, November 28, 2022

Third Major Shareholder Opposes Fox-News Merger


T. Rowe Price, a major shareholder in News Corp, said it had strong reservations about Rupert Murdoch's plan to reunite News Corp and Fox Corp, The New York Times reported on Friday, joining other investors in dissent over the plan.

Reuters reports T. Rowe Price told the newspaper that a merger of the two companies would probably undervalue News Corp, which it believes is trading for less than it is worth.

T. Rowe Price owns about 17.88% of News Corp, according to Refinitiv data, and is the largest shareholder after the Murdoch family.

Other major shareholders Independent Franchise Partners and Irenic Capital have also opposed Murdoch's plan, disclosed in October, to recombine the companies that he separated in 2013.

Fox and News Corp said in October they formed special committees to review proposals for a potential combination.

Independent Franchise Partners owns about 7% of News Corp's Class A shares and 6.4% in Fox Corp. Activist investor Irenic Capital Management holds 2% of News Corp's shares.

T. Rowe Price wanted to make its concerns known to the boards and the public before the companies put forward any firm proposal, the newspaper quoted Vincent DeAugustino, one of the portfolio managers who oversees T. Rowe's investment in News Corp, as saying.

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