News Corp in $2 billion Australia pay-TV bid

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp made a $2 billion takeover offer for Australia's Consolidated Media Holdings, boosting top shareholder and billionaire James Packer's warchest as he abandons media in favor of casinos. Packer, who has built stakes in casinos in Australia, London, Macau and Las Vegas, indicated he would accept the offer in the absence of a higher bid for the pay-TV stakeholder, in which he holds 50.1 percent. For News Corp, a successful bid would double its stake in Australia's dominant pay TV business Foxtel to 50 percent, and give it 100 percent of content provider Fox Sports.