News Corp. bumps up its Australian activity with the acquisition of a 7.5 percent stake in John Fairfax Holdings Ltd., the country’s second-largest newspaper publisher. News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher tried to play down instant takeover theories, telling Reuters: “We have absolutely no intention of making a full takeover.  It’s purely an investment.” News Corp. already owned a small stake in the company and acquired another 69 million shares for $272 million (A$359 million) at $3.94 per share (A$5.20), a 10 percent premium.
It’s the latest in a series of Australian media moves expected to escalate as ownership law changes near; we covered the CVC-PBL deal Thursday. earlier in the week Seven Network took a 14.9 percent stake in West Australian Newspapers Holdings Ltd.
Neil Boyd-Clark, a portfolio manager for ABN AMRO Asset Management told Reuters: “As far as the Seven and News Corp moves go, clearly they are acting in a pre-emptive fashion, positioning themselves in the event that things do actually move post the change of these rules.”
news.com.au: The News Corp. move comes on the eve of an important annual meeting for the company and Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch. According to the report, Murdoch has enough votes to keep News Corp.‘s current poison pill in place—it primarily protects the 30 percent voting stock control the  family holds—in place for another two years despite a shareholder campaign to overturn it. The extension is expected to give Murdoch some leeway in negotiating an asset swap of DirectTv for News Corp. stock held by John Malone’s Liberty Media.