P.M. BRIEFING : Murdoch to Sell Shares in Post

Newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. posted a dramatic 74% drop in nine-month net profit this week, is planning to raise cash by selling some shares in his Hong Kong daily, the South China Morning Post, market sources said today.

Murdoch, who gained full control of the Post in 1986 by buying up the publicly traded shares and then taking the listing off the local stock exchange, stands to get a cash injection of $166 million if the float succeeds.

Officials at the Post declined to comment, as did the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.’s wholly owned merchant banking arm, Wardley Capital Limited, identified by the sources as co-lead arranger of the deal.