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Tag: Corp

  • News Corp to acquire IGN Entertainment for $650 million

    MUMBAI: News Corporation announced today that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire IGN Entertainment, Inc, a leading community-based Internet media and services company for video games and other forms of digital entertainment, for approximately $650 million in cash.

    IGN and its network of sites will become part of News Corporation’s Fox Interactive Media unit.
     
     

    With the addition of IGN, Intermix and Scout Media (both the latter two deals are in the process of being closed) to the existing Fox-branded sites, News Corp’s asserts that its US web traffic will increase to nearly 70 million unique monthly users and more than 12 billion page impressions per month. The combined sites will also provide a powerful cross-promotional opportunity for Fox’s television and film content and enable the company to more efficiently introduce new products and services using its enhanced web presence.

    The IGN transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of calendar 2005. IGN chief executive Mark Jung will continue in his role following the completion of the acquisition. Jung will report to Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn.

     
     

    IGN’s major video game-related properties include IGN.com, GameSpy, GameSpy Arena, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, 3D Gamers, Direct2Drive, GameStats.com and a number of web sites within the Vault and Planet networks. IGN also owns and operates two entertainment web properties focused on movie-related content, IGN FilmForce and Rotten Tomatoes, and a male lifestyle web site, AskMen.com. In addition, it provides technology for online game play in video games.

    Said News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch, “With the acquisition of IGN and its 28 million unique users, we have gone a long way toward achieving two of our key strategic objectives in our efforts to become a leading and profitable Internet presence. First, we have significantly enhanced our online reach, strengthening our position as the fifth most trafficked presence on the web. We also become the fourth largest network in terms of monthly page impressions. And second, we have furthered our strategy to leverage the unique competencies the company enjoys with its news, sports, and entertainment assets to create a leading Internet destination. By acquiring IGN and its compelling sites, we now have top entertainment sites to go along with FOXSports.com, as well as our myriad news sites, headlined by FOXNews.com.”

    The IGN acquisition cames at a time when Murdoch has summoned his senior most executives for the second web summit in seven months on News Corporation’s Internet strategy. The group’s executive committee will meet this weekend near Murdoch’s ranch in California, media reports say. According to the reports, Murdoch said he had earmarked up to $2 billion for Internet acquisitions.

    The February summit in New York marked a distinct strategy change for Murdoch, who had not shown much enthusiasm in Internet investments after the late 1990s. He said that media groups had to reinvent themselves to meet the demands of the “iPod generation”, which was bypassing traditional suppliers by consuming news and entertainment online. Murdoch’s strategy was given a boost by the announcement by Prince Alwaleed, who expressed his “utmost confidence in Murdoch, his management team and his succession planning.”

  • Sony Corp gets its first non-Japanese CEO in Stringer

    MUMBAI: In what can be called a rare move for a Japanese company; Sony Corp has named Sir Howard Stringer as its first non Japanese chairman and CEO. Sir Stringer currently is the head of Sony’s US division.
     

    The new development culminated this morning, wherein Sony’s board agreed to appoint Sir Stringer. As a result of this, the company’s present CEO Nobuyuki Idei will be stepping down after five years at the helm.
     
     
     
    Sir Howard Stringer

    This is the first time ever for Sony to name a foreigner to head the major Japanese electronics firm as the company seeks to improve results at its faltering core electronics business, for which, outgoing CEO Idei has taken the full responsibility.

    Stringer, a former television journalist, will have a tough task of enhancing profitability at Sony. He has been with Sony since 1997 and has a reputation for intelligence and self-deprecating humour. Prior to joining Sony, he was with CBS television network as producer and executive.

    According to a media report, Stringer oversaw Sony’s decision to combine its music business with Bertelsmann AG in 2003 and last year’s move to take over MGM. The appointments will be formally approved by shareholders on 22 June but the management transition will start immediately, the report added.

    Stringer, who does not speak much Japanese, will remain based in the US. He was born in Wales and holds dual citizenship of UK and US.

    The major corporate restructuring will also see Sony president Kunitake Ando being ousted. He will be replaced by Ryoji Chubachi, who is currently executive deputy president and chief operating officer for electronic components and manufacturing. According to one media report, Sony shares have tumbled around 60 per cent since Idei assumed the roles of chairman and CEO in June 2000.

    Stringer was quoted in a media report as saying, “The world is simply not the same place it was a few years ago. The needs and expectations of our customers have changed. The dynamics of the competitive landscape have changed. The pace of innovation across all the businesses in which we compete have changed. So Sony too must change.”

    According to a media report, the corporate shake-up also included the resignation from Sony’s board of directors of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc president and group CEO and Sony’s home electronics and semiconductor businesses COO Ken Kutaragi. While, he will continue to head Sony’s games business, he would be stepping down from the other positions.