Tweet
News Corp. is working with investment bank Allen & Co. on an auction to sell its network of videogame and entertainment websites, known as IGN Entertainment, after the company's initial sale efforts failed to produce a deal, according to people involved on both sides of the negotiations.
The media company is launching the formal sales process as it prepares to spin-off its publishing and journalism assets from faster-growing media and entertainment businesses, in a split that has raised questions about where IGN would fit in the new structure.
The media conglomerate has held talks with a select group of potential bidders over the past year, and has publicly said it is looking to divest the business. But the sales process has not resulted in a deal, as News Corp. has focused on bigger issues, like its own pending split, and as management has changed at its digital division, people said.
News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
IGN is expected to fetch around $100 million in the sales process, people said, in sharp contrast to the $650 million News Corp. paid in 2005 for a stable of websites including IGN.com, GameSpy.com and TeamXbox.com. Several of those websites, however, already have been sold.
Companies that have expressed at least some interest in the current sales process include Break Media, SAY Media and other providers of digital content, several people familiar with the matter said. In addition, people said, other potential bidders could include private equity funds.
News Corp. has in recent years focused more on digitizing its journalism properties, after some of its biggest digital acquisitions were eclipsed by faster-moving rivals. Last year, News Corp. sold Myspace for $35 million, down sharply from the $580 million it had paid six years earlier.
News Corp. said last year that it would consider spinning off IGN, and acquired IGN rival UGO Entertainment from Hearst Corp. in an effort to give the business scale and prepare for a divestiture.
Meanwhile, management departures have weighed on the IGN sales process.
IGN's Chief Executive Roy Bahat resigned from the company in August, saying "it has become clear that now is the time to refresh the process of looking at strategic options for this business," in an email to staff. Mr. Bahat's departure was followed days later by the resignation of News Corp.'s chief digital officer, Jon Miller, who had presided over News Corp.'s efforts to revive Myspace and other digital investments.
Anupreeta Das contributed to this report.
Source
The media company is launching the formal sales process as it prepares to spin-off its publishing and journalism assets from faster-growing media and entertainment businesses, in a split that has raised questions about where IGN would fit in the new structure.
The media conglomerate has held talks with a select group of potential bidders over the past year, and has publicly said it is looking to divest the business. But the sales process has not resulted in a deal, as News Corp. has focused on bigger issues, like its own pending split, and as management has changed at its digital division, people said.
News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
IGN is expected to fetch around $100 million in the sales process, people said, in sharp contrast to the $650 million News Corp. paid in 2005 for a stable of websites including IGN.com, GameSpy.com and TeamXbox.com. Several of those websites, however, already have been sold.
Companies that have expressed at least some interest in the current sales process include Break Media, SAY Media and other providers of digital content, several people familiar with the matter said. In addition, people said, other potential bidders could include private equity funds.
News Corp. has in recent years focused more on digitizing its journalism properties, after some of its biggest digital acquisitions were eclipsed by faster-moving rivals. Last year, News Corp. sold Myspace for $35 million, down sharply from the $580 million it had paid six years earlier.
News Corp. said last year that it would consider spinning off IGN, and acquired IGN rival UGO Entertainment from Hearst Corp. in an effort to give the business scale and prepare for a divestiture.
Meanwhile, management departures have weighed on the IGN sales process.
IGN's Chief Executive Roy Bahat resigned from the company in August, saying "it has become clear that now is the time to refresh the process of looking at strategic options for this business," in an email to staff. Mr. Bahat's departure was followed days later by the resignation of News Corp.'s chief digital officer, Jon Miller, who had presided over News Corp.'s efforts to revive Myspace and other digital investments.
Anupreeta Das contributed to this report.
Source