News Corp close to taking control of Hughes

Rupert Murdoch is close to securing a deal that will see his News Corporation become the largest shareholder in US company Hughes Electronics. The Australian entrepreneur has been trying to obtain control of Hughes’ pay-TV satellite subsidiary DirecTV for more than three years. In the next couple of days he is expected to table a cash bid for General Motor’s 20% stake in Hughes, and is then likely to purchase a further 20% of Hughes’ publicly traded shares. SBC Communications had shown an interest in acquiring the GM stake, but dropped out of the race early last week. Shares in News Corp rose by 3% to USD11.4 yesterday following news that European regulators had also cleared the company’s EUR900 million purchase of Italian pay TV operator Telepiu.