Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, owner of The New York Post, Wall Street Journal and Fox News, is in discussions to by up to 30% of MCH Group for around CHF 100 million, according to a report in Swiss business newspaper Finanz Und Wirtschaft.
The same newspaper also reported that the Swiss financier and entrepreneur Annette Schömmel was putting together a consortium with the aim of buying a 70% stake in MCH Group for CHF 350m.
That might not be possible because MCH Group, parent company of Baselworld and Art Basel, has said that its majority shareholder, the canton of Basel-Stadt, would maintain at least a 33.3% stake, which would allow it to prevent changes to the organization’s statutes.
MCH Group has been public about its need to raise capital following the collapse of Baselworld and the impact of the pandemic on all its other major events this year.
The Canton of Basel-Stadt has cleared the way for new investment.