News Corp to buy minority stake in Dubai’s media company Moby Group

Rupert Murdoch's US media giant News Corp is expanding its presence in the Middle East media market and beyond by agreeing to acquire a minority stake in Dubai-based media company Moby Group.

Under the deal, News Corp will relinquish its 50 per cent stake in Broadcast Middle East (BME), a Farsi-language television company jointly owned by News Corp and Moby, in exchange for a minority share in Moby.

BME will then become a fully-owned subsidiary of Moby, the New York-based firm said in a press release yesterday. It did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

Through BME, News Corp and Moby have launched two Farsi-language channels, FARSI1 and Zemzemeh, and News Corp said that the merger of its Farsi joint venture into Moby will facilitate expansion of the company's media business in the Middle East region, which is under penetrated and has millions of audiences.

News Corp, which also holds a 14.53 per cent stake in Prince Alwaleed's media company Rotana Holding, will help finance Moby's debut in new markets and also provide media expertise, said Saad Mohesni, director of Moby Group.

''They have put in additional capital, which will allow Moby to grow the business regionally. Given their vast experience, we may also utilise their know-how,'' Mohesni told Arabian Business newspaper.

Mohseni, however, did not disclose how much News Corp would invest in Moby to fund the expansion.