Murdoch puts the Fiji Times up for sale

Posted by Clara Martínez Turco on July 30, 2010 at 9:31 AM

A month after Fiji's military regime gave News Limited 90 days to sell The Fiji Times to a local or close it, PricewaterhouseCoopers is calling for expressions of interest from parties wanting to acquire the daily, The New Zealand Herald reported today.

"Interested parties must be able to provide evidence of their ability to meet the requirements of the Media Industry Development Decree 2010 and demonstrate financial capacity to make this acquisition," said PWC, which was hired two weeks ago by Rupert Murdoch's company to value the newspaper, The Fiji Times quoted.

After an evaluation, selected candidates will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement and present non-biding offers.

"Following an assessment of the indicative offers, a limited number of prospective purchasers will be shortlisted and allowed time to conduct their due diligence," the accounting firm explained.

According to The Fiji Times, News Limited will accept offers until August 9.

Under the new decree, which went into effect on June 28, media outlets must be 90 percent owned by Fijians citizens that reside in the country. Although News Limited did not want to sell the newspaper, the military government has said there will be no amendments to the decree and no extensions will be given.