News Corporation Announces Additional Senior Appointments for Proposed Publishing Company
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today announced
two senior management appointments for the New News Corporation, the
proposed global publishing entity to be formed as part of the Company’s
intended separation into two independent, publicly traded companies.
Anoushka Healy, currently Group Managing Editor of The Times and
Sunday Times in London, has been named Chief Strategy Officer and will
help shape the new News Corporation and fashion its strategic direction.
She will also be responsible for sharing best practices across the
organization, implementing new projects and supporting talent around the
company’s businesses.
William Lewis has been appointed Chief Creative Officer. He will
be responsible for the new company’s creative strategy and will have a
central role in developing new commercial opportunities, including
product launches, digital initiatives and acquisitions. Mr. Lewis joined
News Corporation as Group General Manager of News International in
London in September 2010 and became an executive member of News
Corporation’s Management and Standards Committee in July 2011.
Both Ms. Healy and Mr. Lewis will be based in New York and report to
Robert Thomson, Chief Executive Officer of New News Corporation.
“Will and Anoushka will be at the very heart of the new company,
expanding our digital and global reach and building new businesses,”
said Mr. Thomson. “Anoushka is a fully certified organizational genius
and master of motivation. Will has an innate understanding of audiences
and how their needs are changing. He is as diligent as he is digital.”
About Ms. Healy
Anoushka Healy currently serves as Group Managing Editor of The Times
and Sunday Times in London, a role she has held since May 2011. Prior to
this role, she was Managing Editor for The Times, and has previously
served as Assistant Editor for Strategy & Development, working on new
product launches and redesigns for the newspaper. Ms. Healy joined The
Times in November 2002 as the Editorial Communications Director.
Prior to joining The Times, she was Head of Corporate Communications at
the Financial Times for seven years where, among other projects, she
worked on the launch of the Weekend FT, the launch of the FT's US
edition and the launch of FT.com.
About Mr. Lewis
Since July 2011, Mr. Lewis has been an executive member of News
Corporation’s Management and Standards Committee, and he will remain a
member of the MSC. He joined News International as Group General Manager
in September 2010.
Mr. Lewis was previously Editor-in-Chief of Telegraph Media Group, which
he joined in 2005. Under his editorship, the Daily Telegraph was named
Newspaper of the Year, and Mr. Lewis named Journalist of the Year, in
the British Press Awards following the paper’s role in exposing the
parliamentary expenses scandal. Mr. Lewis led the team that designed and
created the Daily Telegraph’s acclaimed newsroom, organising the paper’s
move from its previous premises.
From 2002 until his move to the Daily Telegraph, Mr. Lewis was business
editor of the Sunday Times. He previously worked at the Financial Times
in a number of senior roles, including news editor and New York-based
mergers and acquisitions correspondent.
News Corporation Separation
On June 28, 2012, News Corporation announced that it intends to pursue
the separation of its publishing and its media and entertainment
businesses into two distinct publicly traded companies. The global
publishing company that would be created through the proposed
transaction would consist of the Company’s publishing businesses, its
education division and other Australian assets. The global media and
entertainment company would consist of the Company’s cable and
television assets, filmed entertainment, and direct satellite
broadcasting businesses. Following the separation, each company would
maintain two classes of common stock: Class A Common and Class B Common
Voting Shares. The separation is expected to be completed in
approximately one year from the date of announcement. In addition to
final approval from the Board of Directors and stockholder approval of
certain amendments to the Company’s Restated Certificate of
Incorporation, the completion of the separation will be subject to
receipt of regulatory approvals, opinions from tax counsel and favorable
rulings from certain tax jurisdictions regarding the tax-free nature of
the transaction to the Company and to its stockholders, further due
diligence as appropriate, the execution of certain agreements relating
to the distribution, and the filing and effectiveness of appropriate
filings with the SEC. On December 21, 2012, New Newscorp LLC filed an
initial Form 10 registration statement and News Corporation filed a
preliminary proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission
in connection with the separation. The Company has also applied for
certain regulatory approvals and tax rulings required to enable the
separation to be completed as described. There can be no assurances
given that the separation of the Company's businesses as described will
occur.
About News Corporation
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets
as of September 30, 2012 of approximately US$60 billion and total annual
revenues of approximately US$34 billion. News Corporation is a
diversified global media company with operations in six industry
segments: cable network programming; filmed entertainment; television;
direct broadcast satellite television; publishing; and other. The
activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United
States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and
Latin America.