DUBAI: Rupert Murdoch s News Corp is in final discussions to buy a stake in Saudi broadcaster Rotana Media, a Rotana executive said Tuesday. News Corp is in talks with Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the results will be out by the last week of January, said Nezar Nagro, president of Rotana Media Services, on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai. Nagro declined to give more details on the size of the stake Rotana plans to sell. This deal will take Rotana international, he added. No one from News Corp was immediately reachable for comment. In September, the Wall Street Journal said News Corp was eyeing a 20 percent stake in Rotana, citing people familiar with the deal. Nagro said the unlisted Saudi firm, which is part of Prince Alwaleed s Kingdom Holding, would see a 25 percent increase in revenues this year and a further 20 percent rise next year. It s mainly because of strong sales of ads, he said. In a deal concluded on Tuesday, Rotana said it had paid 100 million dirhams ($27.2 million) to Disney for rights to screen its free-to-air content in the Middle East. The deal which will come into effect immediately will bring Disney and ABC shows to the region s viewers via the Fox Movies and Fox Series channels, both of which were launched last year through a partnership with Rotana.
