News Corp., the global media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said Tuesday it is buying a 10.8 percent stake in World Wide Web site Healtheon/WebMD Corp. and will invest as much as $1 billion in the company over 10 years.
Australia-based News Corp. said it will pay $50 per share for its minority stake in Healtheon/WebMD, the latest high-tech venture of Netscape Communications Corp. founder Jim Clark–a 10 percent premium to the company’s closing stock price Monday.
And in a global alliance designed to make News Corp.’s myriad media properties major distributors of health information, News Corp. said it will grant Atlanta-based WebMD $700 million in commercial air time on its cable and broadcast networks over 10 years, invest $100 million in an international joint venture called Healtheon/WebMD International and spend $62.5 million over five years for the right to syndicate WebMD’s daily broadcast content.
As part of the deal, WebMD will also get a 50 percent stake in its News Corp.’s cable Health Network and related Web site.
