News Corp has repeatedly tried and failed to float Foxtel. Now the Murdoch family-controlled media giant will try to sell its long-held local pay TV platform.
Its 65 per cent stake in the pay TV business has weighed on its balance sheet, a flat cable arm languishing as investors saw value in the rapidly growing Dow Jones and Seven likely wouldn’t have the money, especially with share prices near lows reached during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telstra has spent money buying a Foxtel rival, Fetch, instead of backing the product in which it owns a direct stake.
Angus Aitken, a broker close to News Corp and the Murdoch family, has put Platinum Equity up as the potential buyer. Platinum Equity specialises in structurally changed companies, and could run Foxtel for cash for years. Meanwhile, Foxtel has been in a hole of debt, much of it at the hands of its own shareholders. It owes News Corp almost $600 million, CFO Susan Panuccio told analysts. That credit facility carries more than 7 per cent interest. Telstra, meanwhile, was taking 12.14 per cent interest on $96 million as of March 31.