News Corp may sell MySpace for $100 million: report
27 Apr 2011
News Corp is expected to sell all or part of its social networking site Myspace for around $100 million. The Rupert Murdock-controlled News Corp had bought MySpace for over $580 million in 2005.
News Corp is reported to have received offers from nearly half-a-dozen venture capitalists and other companies, including Redscout Ventures, Thomas H Lee Partners, and Criterion Capital Partners LLC for MySpace.
Reports also said News Corp had separate talks with Chinese internet holding company Tencent for a deal while MySpace co-founder Chris De Wolfe has also shown interest in the site.
For News Corp, the MySpace segment has, however, been a total loss. Despite all attempts to refurbish its image by relaunching the site as a social entertainment site focusing more on music, movies and celebrities, the site reported an operating loss of $156 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2010.
While separate results for MySpace are not available, News Corp's "other" segment, which includes the social network, reported a second quarter operating loss of $156 million, down $31 million from the previous year.
Against this, News Corp's net profit rose from $254 million while its overall revenue increased slightly to $8.76 billion, mainly on the strength of its TV affiliate's revenue and advertising market.