News Corp. Receives Rights to Image Stock

News Corp., an Australian media concern controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has the right to purchase a 6.4% stake in Image Entertainment Inc., according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, but said does not intend to exercise those options.

News Corp. received the rights to the stock of the Chatsworth-based laser disc distributor as part of a videodisc purchase and distribution agreement signed in July, 1992, between Image and News’ wholly owned subsidiary, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

Under the agreement, Fox Film received warrants to acquire Image stock. On the day the agreement was signed, Fox Film received the right to purchase 401,222 shares, or 3.1%, of Image, and on January 15 received options to buy another 208,970 shares for a total of 4.7%.

It wasn’t until July 15, when Fox Film received rights to an additional 208,970, that News Corp. was required to notify the SEC of the warrants.

Under the Fox Film-Image deal, Fox Film will continue to receive the rights to purchase blocks of Image stock at $6 per share until July 15, 1995, for a total of 1.67 million shares, or 12.8% of the total outstanding.

A similar agreement signed in 1991 gave the Walt Disney Co. the rights to purchase 10% of Image’s stock. Those warrants have not been exercised.