News Corporation eyes partnership model for MySpace

News Corporation is understood to be moving away from a straight sale of MySpace towards a partnership model.

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The media company is reportedly in talks with companies to negotiate a deal to sell its social media site MySpace but has not received the right offer. Instead it is looking to negotiate a partnership model, keeping a stake in the company.

MySpace was bought by News Corp in 2005 for $580m (£353m) when it was the most popular social network. The company is now seeking to sell the site for $100m (£60.8m) since competition from other social media sites has meant it has been unable to keep the audience it once had.

News Corp is also thought to have received a large number of offers and interest but has not agreed on a deal because they are lower than the amount it is seeking.

News Corp’s profits fell 24% in the first quarter of this year, which it said were contributed to by $165m losses at MySpace, despite a raft of job cuts and cost-cutting measures.

This story first appeared on New Media Age. For more digital stories and analysis’ from NMA click here now