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News Corp (ASX:NWS) and Telstra (ASX:TLS) have today agreed to sell Foxtel to DAZN, a heavyweight streaming platform from the United Kingdom, in a blockbuster $3.4 billion deal now expected to wrap up in late 2025.
Telstra owned 35% of Foxtel while News Corp had the other 65%; all is going in the sale.
“This agreement is a victory for News Corp shareholders, DAZN, and sports fans in Australia and around the world,” News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said today.
Today’s streaming sale news has been some time coming, with the AFR reporting back in November that DAZN had been sniffing around the Aussie pay TV platform.
The 65% stake in Foxtel owned by News Corp has been quietly for sale since August; there has been “third-party interest” in the chunk for as long as six months, with DAZN the most interested party through that whole period.
Platinum Equity, an L.A. asset management firm, was in the race for a time too.
Before this sale, there was a time when News Corp had pondered floating Foxtel, though that possibility was shelved in 2021 after tepid interest.
The DAZN buy-up gives the British powerhouse a suite of sporting staples Down Under including cricket, rugby league, AFL, and more. Also included in the pay-TV deal is Kayo Sports, the digital arm established in 2018.
Foxtel’s biggest selling point is its 1.4 million cable customers – all paying – and 3.2 million streaming subscribers that bring in US$1.9B in revenue together.
DAZN will also pick up Foxtel’s considerable $777 million in owing debts.
On the expansion, DAZN cofounder and CEO Shay Segev said it was particularly exciting because Australians are so invested in their sporting leagues and global games.
“Australians watch more sport than any other country in the world, which makes this deal an incredibly exciting opportunity for DAZN to enter a key market, marking another step in our long-term strategy to become the global home of sport,” the businessman behind DAZN’s rise to power said on Monday.
News Corp barely moved on the news early on Monday; company shares opened on December 23 selling at $49.64, up around 1% after the sale.
Telstra similarly stayed relatively still, up to $4 a share early today.
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