National Geographic deal grows
Fox takes a majority stake in magazine in an expansion of their 18-year partnership.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is extending his reach into one of America’s most venerable cultural institutions.
Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is taking a majority stake in National Geographic, the 127-year-old science and exploration magazine.
The deal expands on an 18-year-old partnership between Fox and the National Geographic Society through which they jointly own and operate the National Geographic cable channels that are available in about 500 million homes worldwide.
Fox has agreed to pay $725 million to bring the nonprofit National Geographic Society’s media properties into the expanded joint venture, putting the magazine, the TV channels and other media assets under one corporate roof.
The entity, dubbed National Geographic Partners, will be run by its new chief executive, Declan Moore, a 20-year National Geographic Society veteran who is the society’s chief media officer. As a result of the deal, the publication will switch to for-profit status.
Fox Chief Executive James Murdoch, who took over for his father, Rupert, in July, said in a statement that putting the National Geographic media assets together “creates vast opportunities and enables this business to be even more successful in a digital environment.”
The expanded partnership underscores the value of the National Geographic brand and its successful TV channels, the companies said. Running the TV networks and the other media businesses separately also made it difficult for the units to share and work together on content, according to a person familiar with executives’ thinking.
The new venture will be 73% owned by Fox and 27% controlled by the Washington nonprofit organization, while its board of directors will be split evenly between representatives from the two companies. The board’s chair will alternate each year, starting with National Geographic Society CEO Gary Knell.
The pact will increase the National Geographic Society’s endowment to $1 billion, enabling it to roughly double its investment in science research and education, the companies said.
“We now will have the scale and reach to continue to fulfill our mission long into the future,” Knell said in a statement.
The transaction is expected to close this year.