News Corp. (NSDQ: NWS) is now definitely looking for a MySpace buyer – but may yet retain part of the site.
“With a new structure in place, now is the right time to consider strategic options for this business,” COO Chase Carey told analysts. “The new MySpace has been very well received by the market and we have some very encouraging metrics. But the plan to allow MySpace to reach it’s full potential may be best achieved under a new owner.”
If it were ever in doubt, it now seems clear News Corp.’s latest big cutback to the service last month was to get it in shape for some kind of sale. Carey’s comments are a come-and-get-me to potential bidders. Carey told paidContent.org…
“There’s been a lot of interest, because there’s been some indication we’re pursuing this path. We’ll consider all options – not just a sale, it could be a sale, it could be an investor coming in to it, it could be us staying in with a restructured ownership structure with management.
“We think a fresh perspective would give them flexibility and an opportunity to get a new life consistent with the right-sizing of the product and the costs.
“The interest to date has ranged from A to Z – from industry players, financial players, foreign to domestic. And that’s without really being out there – it’s incoming, we’re not soliciting anything at this point. But we’ll look at all of those. I’m not going to speculate on value.
“We think it is a business that has got a unique level of reach and, whilst it it’s in a restructuring place, has put forward a path that we think has a real future to it and that we think has an opportunity to really be something special. But we think we really ought to put it in the right place to maximize that opportunity.
“Senior management there is excited. There’s been a lot of challenges for them, but they really believe that they can do something special.”