Fox still on the prowl?

Fox still on the prowl?

Murdoch isn't finished. After scooping up scout.com and myspace.com, Rupert is making it no secret that the new internet division within News Corp, Fox Inactive Media (FIM), is still on the prowl for more acquisitions. In a recent interview Rupert talked about the potential acquisitions of Skype (VoIP) and a yet unnamed search company. Below is a summary as posted on PaidContent.org.

News Corp.'s Murdoch said he doesn't see Google Inc. as a rival because it's a pure search company. But Yahoo Inc. could be competition, "although we don't see why we can't live side by side with them very well," he said. "This is an area of enormous growth and there's room for a lot more than one or two players."

Murdoch said News Corp. plans to create an Internet portal and is in advanced discussions to acquire a controlling stake in a search engine, which he declined to name. Rumors as to the identity are flying around here.

UPDATE - Much more information on Rupert's planned "domination" of the Internet at Businessweek. The article states, "Murdoch said he expected other investments to be made, though he did not think the total amount would go far past $1 billion."

"Make no mistake," Murdoch said. "Our commitment to this space will constitute a major part of this company's growth, profits and asset building over the next several years."