News Corp and Telstra have finalised a deal to merge Foxtel and FOX Sports into a single company by the end of June, headed by recently-installed CEO Patrick Delany.

Under the deal, News Corp will own a 65% stake and Telstra the other 35%. The telco is expecting to record a one-off accounting gain of about $263 million following the merger.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission reviewed whether the merger would substantially lessen competition but decided not to oppose the merger.

“An important consideration was that consumers will still be able to access Foxtel’s digital products even if they acquire broadband or mobile services from Telstra’s competitors,” Rod Sims said in December.

“Also, generally, where triple play [voice, broadband and audio visual] bundles are offered consumers still have to pay to acquire premium packages and there are alternative sources of content for other telecommunications suppliers wanting to offer triple play bundles.”

Source: ABC

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