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Report: James Packer to sell Foxtel shares

Update: Reports that billionaire James Packer will sell his shares in Foxtel for a cool $1 billion have been denied.

There are reports that billionaire James Packer will sell his shares in Foxtel.

His Consolidated Media Holdings owns 25% of the Pay TV provider, with Telstra owning 50% and News Corporation 25%.

The price-tag is reputedly $1 billion.

The Herald Sun reports he wants the cash to pursue a merger of Crown casino in Melbourne and Sydney’s Star casino.

Potential buyers would be Telstra, News Corporation, or Seven West Media.

The ACCC has approved the merger of Foxtel and Austar.

James Packer also owns shares in Network TEN.

Update: CMH issues a statement denying it is considering a sale of its 25% share.

6 Responses

  1. Packer has the best timing of anyone in media. If he’s selling I’d argue it’s the top of the market. Just look at his PBL Media sale to the dopey bankers! Classic Packer.

  2. According to reports News Corp has first right to buy his share of Foxtel.

    If Telstra and Seven West Media tried, the ACCC would almost certainly block the move.

  3. First of all the theories were not that far fetched. Packer did buy Ten because it was cheap, but he also bought it to dramatically change One. Hense why One is crap now. So Steve Sydney you are half right.

  4. @Josh777

    Exactly my point. It was silly for people to speculate Packer spent over 100 million dollars buying a piece of TEN only to want to destroy it.

  5. Well that will make Consolodated Media Holdings a large profit seems though when Foxtel launched it wasn’t even close to the size it is today. After the Murdochs got told in a U.K. newspaper report that they are both unfit to run News Corp. I doubt they will be making any more big purchases in the near future, but Telstra and Seven-West Media are definitely the most likely buyers as they are the richest in their sectors (Telstra in telecoms and Seven-West media in broadcasting/publications).
    @ steve sydney – Packer’s are great at one thing, buying into something that is at it’s worst and selling when they get it at it’s best. So Packer would have only bought into TEN as he would have seen the shares were cheap as chips and that the network could only get better, making a huge profit when he decides to sell

  6. Well that would go against the theories expressed on this blog that Packer only bought into TEN to destroy the Network in the interests of Foxtel.

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