I received this in my mail and I thought I would share here.
Some background info :
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http://www.4rfv.co.uk/nationalnews.asp?id=135826
November 25, 2011 6:46 pm
BSkyB investors to back James Murdoch
James Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB, is set to win the day by a comfortable majority at next week’s important shareholder meeting despite calls for him to step down.
At least half of BSkyB’s top 15 investors, owning close to 60 per cent of the group’s shares, will back his re-election as chairman of the broadcaster on Tuesday even as investigations continue into the phone-hacking scandal at News of the World. The hacking began before Mr Murdoch assumed the chairmanship of News International, the UK group that owns the now-defunct paper, in 2008, but has since blown into a national scandal.
BSkyB’s board has made strenuous efforts to rally shareholders and allay their doubts about Mr Murdoch. He is deputy chief operating officer of News Corp, the US media group that owns 39 per cent of BSkyB and was forced to abandon its bid for the British broadcaster in July as the phone hacking scandal engulfed News International.
Seven or more of the group’s top 15 investors, in addition to News Corp, have indicated their support for Mr Murdoch. These include Capital Research Global, the publicity-shy investor that is the broadcaster’s second-biggest investor with 5.2 per cent of the shares.
There has been vocal opposition from some influential shareholders including Franklin Templeton, the group’s fourth-largest investor which last month told the FT that “at this point an independent chairman would be advisable”.
Voting advisers in the UK and the US, as well as some US shareholders, have called for investors to vote against Mr Murdoch’s re-election.
But onlookers think Mr Murdoch could win backing from four-fifths of BSkyB’s owners as long as nothing damaging emerges from the investigations into hacking over the next few days.
Two weeks ago Mr Murdoch appeared before a parliamentary select committee for a second time and repeated denials that he did not see significant documents that showed the News of the World was immersed in phone hacking. Under heavy questioning by MPs, he said he had not misled the committee.
Amid the scrutiny of his role of chairman at BSkyB, Mr Murdoch has also quietly stepped down as director of the stable of newspapers under the News International umbrella including the Sun and the Times. He remains chairman of News International but his departure from these boards could be seen as a gradual, but strategic, move away from News Corp’s troubled UK subsidiary.
...Article continues with some investors' statements in support of Murdoch here : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61b052aa-1779-11e1-b20e-00144feabdc0.html
Some background info :
| 24 November 2011 |
| 'Questions Remain' Despite Murdoch Jnr Resignation |
| Labour's Media Secretary has said that James Murdoch still had questions to answer despite stepping down from the board of News Group Newspapers. News International, a News Corp. subsidiary, said in a statement on Wednesday that James - son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch - resigned in September from the boards of News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun, and Times Newspapers Ltd, which publishes The Times of London. He remains as chairman of News International and as a director of Times Newspapers' holding company. He is also deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., which his father heads. Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on James before next week's annual meeting of BSkyB, were a vote will be taken on his continued chairmanship. Labour MP Chris Bryant has written to 40 major shareholders urging them to vote against his re-election. Now Harriet Harman, Labour’s Shadow Media Secretary, has also spoken out, saying questions remained about James' knowledge of the phone hacking undertaken at the newspapers he was in charge of, and allegations he had misled a committee investigating his involvement. “James Murdoch should make clear why he has stepped down in this way," Ms Harman said on Thursday. "This does not lessen in any way the need for him to answer questions or take responsibility for what happened on his watch. Furthermore, the concerns about whether he is a fit and proper person to run BSkyB remain.” (DW) |
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http://www.4rfv.co.uk/nationalnews.asp?id=135826
November 25, 2011 6:46 pm
BSkyB investors to back James Murdoch
James Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB, is set to win the day by a comfortable majority at next week’s important shareholder meeting despite calls for him to step down.
At least half of BSkyB’s top 15 investors, owning close to 60 per cent of the group’s shares, will back his re-election as chairman of the broadcaster on Tuesday even as investigations continue into the phone-hacking scandal at News of the World. The hacking began before Mr Murdoch assumed the chairmanship of News International, the UK group that owns the now-defunct paper, in 2008, but has since blown into a national scandal.
BSkyB’s board has made strenuous efforts to rally shareholders and allay their doubts about Mr Murdoch. He is deputy chief operating officer of News Corp, the US media group that owns 39 per cent of BSkyB and was forced to abandon its bid for the British broadcaster in July as the phone hacking scandal engulfed News International.
Seven or more of the group’s top 15 investors, in addition to News Corp, have indicated their support for Mr Murdoch. These include Capital Research Global, the publicity-shy investor that is the broadcaster’s second-biggest investor with 5.2 per cent of the shares.
There has been vocal opposition from some influential shareholders including Franklin Templeton, the group’s fourth-largest investor which last month told the FT that “at this point an independent chairman would be advisable”.
Voting advisers in the UK and the US, as well as some US shareholders, have called for investors to vote against Mr Murdoch’s re-election.
But onlookers think Mr Murdoch could win backing from four-fifths of BSkyB’s owners as long as nothing damaging emerges from the investigations into hacking over the next few days.
Two weeks ago Mr Murdoch appeared before a parliamentary select committee for a second time and repeated denials that he did not see significant documents that showed the News of the World was immersed in phone hacking. Under heavy questioning by MPs, he said he had not misled the committee.
Amid the scrutiny of his role of chairman at BSkyB, Mr Murdoch has also quietly stepped down as director of the stable of newspapers under the News International umbrella including the Sun and the Times. He remains chairman of News International but his departure from these boards could be seen as a gradual, but strategic, move away from News Corp’s troubled UK subsidiary.
...Article continues with some investors' statements in support of Murdoch here : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61b052aa-1779-11e1-b20e-00144feabdc0.html