Rupert Murdoch Drops Plan To Merge Fox, News Corp.

Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn a proposal to reunite News Corp. and Fox Corp. as the company is also exploring a sale of Move Inc, which operates the Realtor.com website, to CoStar Group, according to a regulatory filing and sources familiar with the process.

Photo Insert: The deal would have recombined the media empire Murdoch split nearly a decade ago.

Three sources familiar with the matter said News Corp was in talks to sell its stake in Move to CoStar for about $3 billion, Dawn Chmielewski, Greg Roumeliotis, Anirban Sen and Helen Coster reported for Reuters.

Several top shareholders had publicly said they opposed the proposed Fox-News Corp. combination, and on Tuesday News Corp said in a statement that it was "not optimal for shareholders of News Corp and Fox at this time."

The deal would have recombined the media empire Murdoch split nearly a decade ago.

News Corp confirmed the talks to sell Move to CoStar after Reuters reported it on Tuesday, adding that there is no guarantee the discussions will lead to a transaction.

A spokesperson for CoStar said the company "continuously evaluates M&A opportunities across a broad range of companies to maximize shareholder value" and does not comment on "market rumors or speculation."

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