News Corp. Looks To Sky
Although News Corp. emphatically denied that it was mulling an acquisition of automotive giant General Motors Corp., it did not rule out a future bid for GM's Hughes Electronics unit, which houses the DirecTVÆ satellite television service. Senior News Corp. sources said that the company regards DirecTV as an attractive asset that's highly compatible with the company's international satellite TV interests and added that Rupert Murdoch's media and entertainment conglomerate could mount a bid for Hughes Electronics within six months. News Corp. has been talking to Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other Internet majors about investing in a new unit housing its diverse satellite TV interests ahead of an expected initial public offering of shares that could raise $4 to $6 billion. Sources said News Corp. could use that money toward an effort to acquire Hughes Electronics and DirecTV. If necessary, it might consider an improbable bid for General Motors, which controls about 68 percent of Hughes, and then sell GM's core automotive business. General Motors has a market value of $54 billion, compared with News Corp.'s $58 billion. Hughes Electronics' market capitalization sits at $20 billion. Source: The Hollywood Reporter