Richard Greenfield of Fulcrum Global Partners detailed what he thought News Corp.'s pending takeover of Hughes and DirecTV may look like when the deal is done, which is likely to occur by the end of the year.
The analyst said if and when the companies close the transaction - in which News Corp. will obtain a 34 percent stake in Hughes - the Hughes stake will be immediately sold down to FOX. While conditions may be placed on the deal, Greenfield said he doesn't foresee any onerous restrictions that will prevent the deal from closing.
After the deal formally closes, General Motors and the GM Pension Fund will own about 57 million shares of News Corp. "NWSA" shares. Greenfield said expect a block trade to occur immediately after the transaction closes - equating to about $1.6 billion worth of News Corp. stock, or 4 percent of total News Corp. shares outstanding and 7 percent of NWSA shares outstanding.
In a research note released Monday, Greenfield placed a "buy" rating on NWSA shares. " We continue to view NWSA as the most exciting long-term investment within our media universe given its unique collection of international media assets," he said.
