Rupert Murdoch eyeing General Motors takeover

DETROIT, MARCH 24: Shares of General Motors Corp. jumped on Thursday after a CNBC report that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and AT&T Cor...

DETROIT, MARCH 24: Shares of General Motors Corp. jumped on Thursday after a CNBC report that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and AT&T Corp.’s Liberty Media Group were interested in buying the automotive giant as a way to obtain GM’s Hughes Electronics Corp.

According the report, News Corp. had hired investment bankers to look into buying GM because of the value of Hughes’ satellite TV business. GM’s auto business might then be spun off into a separate company.

GM, the world’s largest automaker, declined to comment on the report, and News Corp. — a worldwide media and entertainment company run by Murdoch — denied the report outright.

Story continues below this ad

"We’re not commenting on any kinds of rumour or speculation," GM spokesman Tom Kowaleski said. "The report that News Corp. is engaged in talks with GM, investment bankers and third parties about buying GM Corp. is entirely false and without merit," said Andrew Butcher, a spokesman for News Corp. in New York.

News Corp’s media properties include newspapers, the 20th Century Fox studios, the Fox television network, and cable and satellite TV around the world.

GM’s stock was up 3-3/8 to 85-1/8 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Earlier it had risen as high as 87. Its 52-week high is 94-7/8.

Shares of GM Hughes, a separate stock that tracks the performance of the Hughes assets, was up 5-5/16 to 129-3/4, after reaching a fresh year-high of 135-3/4 earlier in the session.