Gemstar-TV Guide Seeks Alternatives, Including Sale
By Rafat Ali - Mon 09 Jul 2007 03:17 PM PST
Programming guide firm Gemstar-TV Guide International is up for sale: it is considering “strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, which may include a sale,” it said. It has retained UBS to look at options. The company has suffered with the erosion of its core listings business as things move online, though it has tried to expand into related areas, and has done a number of small online acquisitions to boost its website.
News Corp owns 42 percent in the company, and this sale option is with the support from its largest shareholder, THR reported. As to why News Corp’s not buying it outright: “Gemstar’s core competencies are in cross platform video guidance, which is not an area in which News Corporation is seeking to increase its presence,” the New Corp spokesperson said in the story.
Among the digital purchases the company has made over the past few months are Aptiv Digital, which markets solutions for TV set-top boxes, the assets of TV listings site eVokeTV, Jumptheshark.com, TVShowsOnDVD.com, TV-now.com and FansofRealityTV.com.
