By George Stahl
21st Century Fox Inc. (FOXA) has begun the process to remove its
listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, which the company
said was an attempt to simplify the entertainment company's
operating and capital structure.
Following the listing's removal, all of 21st Century Fox's Class
A and Class B stock will be listed solely on Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
(NDAQ).
After separating from News Corp last year, "21st Century Fox has
only limited operations in Australia," said Rupert Murdoch,
chairman and chief executive. "We believe that consolidating the
trading of our stock in the world's largest equity market would
provide improved liquidity to the company's stockholders and
greater efficiencies for the company."
The company said the delisting would simplify its capital
structure by reducing the number of equity pools to two Class A and
Class B stocks from four. It also would consolidate trading to one
exchange and reduce the company's reporting costs because it only
would have to comply with one securities regulator.
In addition, 21st Century Fox sees the move leading to increased
trading in the company's common stock, particularly the less
actively traded Class B shares. Also, the company said, the
delisting could result in a reduction of non-U.S. holders of its
Class B stock. If that number falls below 25%, it would enable the
company to restore full voting rights to the company's non-U.S.
stockholders.
The move is subject to the approval of the company's Class B
shareholders, who are expected to vote at a special meeting in
March or April. If approved, the delisting from the ASX Ltd's
(ASX.AU) Australian Securities Exchange would occur about a month
thereafter.
Following the delisting, former Australian-listed stockholders
would have the ability to continue to own the company's stock
through Nasdaq.
According to 21st Century Fox, the Australian Securities
Exchange has provided guidance on how to do the proposed delisting
and is requiring compliance certain conditions, such as that
holders of CHESS Depositary Interests be sent certain information
regarding the proposed delisting.
21st Century Fox and News Corp (NWS), parent of this newswire
and The Wall Street Journal, are controlled by Rupert Murdoch.
Until late June, 21st Century Fox was part of the same company as
News Corp.
Write to George Stahl at george.stahl@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires