Lachlan Murdoch, the Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation and Co-Chairman of News Corporation, announced Tuesday that a merger between the two companies will not occur at this time.
“Today, my father and I made the determination that a combination is not optimal for the shareholders of FOX and News Corp at this time,” Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement. His father, Rupert Murdoch, is the Executive Chairman of News Corp. and launched Fox News.
“The decision to no longer explore a combination with News Corp does not impact our operations or strategic priorities at FOX,” Lachlan Murdoch’s statement continued. “We remain focused on the strength of our core businesses, which distinguish us from our media peers, while delivering both operationally and financially to create long-term value for our shareholders.”
A special committee was formed in October 2022 to explore a potential combination of Fox Corp. and News Corp. and evaluate possible financial terms. Following Tuesday’s announcement by Lachlan Murdoch on the decision not to merge the two firms, the special committee was dissolved by the board.
The firms were held by the same parent corporation until 2013 when they were split into two publicly traded companies. Fox Corp. became the parent company of FOX News and FOX Business along with local TV stations and the Tubi streaming service, while News Corp. held Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins Publishers, and news organizations in Australia in the United Kingdom.
The Murdoch family trust holds a voting stake of about 42% in Fox Corp. and a roughly 39% voting stake in News Corp. according to securities filings from the two companies.
Fox Corp. is the parent company of FOX Business and FOX News.
This is a developing story and may be updated.