News Corp. Satellite Branches to Become One Unit

News Corp.(NWS ADR) said late Tuesday that it would restructure its worldwide satellite units into one entity, named Sky Global Networks, and would sell a stake of that unit to the public by the end of the year.

The new company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SGN," according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. News Corp. hopes to raise as much as $5 billion from the IPO.

SGN will include the company's various stakes in British Sky Broadcasting(BSY), TV Guide(TVGIA) and NDS Group(NNDS), among others.

Investment banks Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. will lead the offering, News Corp. said.

The announcement of the new company had been expected. News Corp. did not provide any further details regarding Sky Global, including other possible investors in the new company. Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo!(YHOO) and Liberty Media (LMG.A) have been some of the big names mentioned as possible partners in Sky Global.

Another potential investor could be Vivendi Universal, the new company being formed by the merger between Vivendi, Canal Plus and Seagram(VO). At a press conference in New York announcing that deal, Vivendi's chairman and chief executive, Jean-Marie Messier, who will run Vivendi Universal, said Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., is interested in an investment in Sky Global by Vivendi Universal. Vivendi already owns a 25% stake in BSkyB.

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