Southeastern Asset Management, the money manager that fought the buyout of Dell, has taken a 12 percent voting stake in the News Corporation, making it the second largest investor behind the company’s chairman, Rupert Murdoch.
By acquiring nearly 24 million Class B shares, Southeastern becomes one of the most influential shareholders of News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, along with several Australian media properties.
But in disclosing its holdings with Securities and Exchange Commission late on Tuesday, Southeastern filed a form 13G, suggesting its stake was a passive investment for now. Its stake was “not acquired for the purpose and do not have the effect of changing or influencing the control†of the company, according to the filing.
Southeastern and could not be reached for comment and News Corp. declined to comment.
News Corp. has a dual class stock structure, and most investors hold Class A stock, which does not include voting rights. It was not immediately clear why Southeastern acquired Class B shares if it did not intend to influence the company.
Mr. Murdoch split his media empire in two earlier this year. His newspapers and Australian properties retained the name News Corp., and now make up a public company with a market value of about $6.3 billion. Meanwhile Fox News and the Fox broadcast network, as well as the 21st Century Fox movie studio, trade under the name Twenty-First Century Fox, which has a market value of nearly $75 billion.
By investing in News Corp. on the heels of its high-profile battle with Dell, Southeastern has gone after another marquee company with a larger than life founder.
Southeastern has about $34 billion under management. Though it initially proposed the idea of going private to Mr. Dell and asked to participate in the deal, it was sidelined when he decided to go forward with the proposal. Southeastern then became one of the most outspoken voices against the deal, joining forces with Carl C. Icahn and proposing a number of alternative transactions that failed to derail the buyout.
After months of tense negotiations with Dell, both Southeastern and Mr Icahn said this week they would no longer opposed the deal, which is expected to be approved by shareholders on Thursday in Austin, Tex.
