News Corp to take over radio stations in €266m deal

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is set to take control of a significant slice of Ireland’s commercial radio market after agreeing a £220.3m (€266m) takeover of Belfast-based Wireless Group.

The deal requires regulatory approval. It offers Wireless shareholders 315p per share, which represents a 70.3% premium on the Belfast group’s closing share price on Wednesday, the day before the proposed deal was announced.

A successful takeover would give News Corp control over a number of Irish radio stations including C103 and 96FM in Cork and Dublin stations FM104 and Q102.