WASHINGTON: All of a sudden, it seems, everybody wants to own a U.S. media company.In the last few weeks, several of the world's biggest telecommunications and media companies have started circling Twenty First Century Fox Inc with an eye to buying a significant piece of Rupert Murdoch's global media and entertainment empire.Potential suitors include Comcast Corp, Verizon Communications Inc and Walt Disney Co. "At the same time, the debt financing markets have remained wide open for major transformational deals this year, though recent skirmishes in the junk-bond market have served as a reminder this may not last for long.U.S. Shares of media companies have long traded at a discount to the wider market. Fox, for example, trades at around 13.9 times estimated earnings per share for the next year, in line with the wider media sector at 13.6. Fox's profit per share is down about 50 percent from 2013, while Viacom's is up only slightly.

Source: The Star November 17, 2017 21:00 UTC