Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp and co-chairman of 21st Century Fox, arrives at the Sun Valley Resort of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 10, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn the proposal to re-combine Fox Corp and News Corp.
Fox said Tuesday its board received a letter from Murdoch, its chairman, and his son Lachlan Murdoch that “determined that a combination is not optimal for the shareholders” of either of the companies at the time.
The potential merger had faced opposition from shareholders in recent months, who didn’t believe a merger would show the true value of News Corp. if it merged with Fox.
A Fox spokesman didn’t immediately respond to comment.
In October, the companies said they had formed a special committee to consider the deal.
A combination of the two companies would have unified leadership in Murdoch’s empire and cut costs. News Corp. owns Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones. Fox, with what was left over from the $71.3 billion Twenty-First Century Fox sale to Disney in 2019, owns right wing networks Fox News and Fox Business, which is a CNBC competitor.
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