rupert murdoch | NEW YORK (AFP) - Media-entertainment giant News Corporation said it reached a deal to buy Intermix Media for 580 million dollars in cash, gaining a foothold in the arena of Internet news blogs and social networking. The acquisition gives the media giant headed by Australian-born mogul Rupert Murdoch the wesbite MySpace.com, described as a leading "lifestyle portal." |
As part of the deal, Intermix exercised its option to acquire the 47 percent of MySpace.com that it does not already own.
MySpace.com and Intermix's more than 30 sites will become part of News Corporation's newly formed Fox Interactive Media unit.
The acquisition "underscores News Corporation's commitment to expand its Internet presence by offering a deeper, richer online experience for its millions of users," said the company, which recently moves its headquarters to the United States from Australia. |  |
With the deal, News Corporation's US Web traffic will nearly double to more than 45 million unique monthly users.
Intermix attracts about 27 million users to its sites specializing in entertainment, humor, gaming and social networking, as well as sharing or sampling of pictures, music and video.
 | "Intermix is an important acquisition for News Corp., instantly doubling the number of visitors to our sites and providing an ideal foundation on which to meaningfully increase our Internet presence," said Murdoch. |
"Intermix's brands, such as MySpace.com, are some of the web's hottest properties and resonate with the same audiences that are most attracted to Fox's news, sports and entertainment offerings. We see a great opportunity to combine the popularity of Intermix's sites, particularly MySpace, with our existing online assets to provide a richer experience for today's Internet users."
MySpace is the fifth-ranked Web domain in terms of page views, according to comScore Networks, an Internet research firm, with a large following in the 16- to 34-year-old demographic group.
The site atttacts about eight percent of all ads on the Internet, putting it in the company of giants Yahoo, Google and America Online.
It has also become a major music destination, with some 350,000 artists including REM and the Black Eyed Peas having used the site to launch new albums and enable users to sample and share songs.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to shareholder approval and other conditions.
In a related transaction, News Corporation announced that it entered into a voting agreement with VantagePoint Venture Partners, the largest stockholder of Intermix. The agreement provides that VantagePoint will vote its shares, representing approximately 22.4 percent of the outstanding shares of Intermix, in favor of the transaction.
 | News Corp. is the parent company of 20th Century Fox studios and the Fox broadcasting operations in the United States as well as a range of newspapers and other operations including satellite television in the United States, Britain and Australia. |
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