MURDOCH MOVES TO BUY AUSSIE COMPANY HIS SON FAILED TO BUY

With his plan to acquire complete control of Britain’s BSkyB satellite service now seemingly dead, Rupert Murdoch has cast an eye closer to his birthplace, offering to buy the Australian-based holding company Consolidated Media Holdings for $2 billion. Murdoch’s News Corp is already partnered with CMH in two pay-TV companies, Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia, through its Australian unit, News Ltd. The proposed acquisition faces numerous regulatory hurdles. In 2008, Murdoch’s son Lachlan offered $3.1 billion to buy CMH, an offer that came to naught after his backers pulled out. Lachlan and CMH Executive Chairman James Packer (each the son of an Australian media titan) had been close friends for many years but reportedly had a falling-out last year.