Trade Periodicals Targeted for Sale by News Corp.

News Corp. may sell its business publications that serve the travel and hotel industry in its effort to reduce its nearly $7-billion debt but won’t sell its consumer magazines, the company said Thursday.

Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of the Australian-based media giant, said through a spokesman that the company has “had approaches” about its nine business publications and that it intends to “entertain them.”

But Murdoch said: “We will not sell any consumer publications here or anywhere in the world.”

Murdoch’s comments came in response to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that quoted unidentified publishing industry executives as saying News Corp. is “actively shopping” the business publications and “might be willing to entertain offers for some of its consumer magazines, such as New Woman and Star, and for some of its publications in Europe and the Pacific.”

But in his statement, Murdoch said he “won’t even entertain any offers . . . about the other publishing properties.”

News Corp., which publishes newspapers, magazines and books and owns television stations, a television network and a film company, has spent heavily on acquisitions in recent years.

News Corp. said last year in connection with its $3-billion purchase of the company that publishes TV Guide that it planned to sell $1 billion in assets by June of this year.

Asset sales to date have amounted to about $800 million, including the sales of the 20th Century Fox Film building in Los Angeles for $320 million and News Corp.’s 50% interest in Elle magazine for $160 million.

News Corp.’s business publications include Fast Facts, Meetings & Conventions, Official Meeting Facilities Guide, Official Hotel & Resort Guide, OHRG Cruise Directory, On Deck, Travel Weekly and World Travel Directory.