Acquisitions: Murdoch Snares a Fox

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Ever since Media Magnate Rupert Murdoch bought half of 20th Century-Fox films in March, cinema buffs have been predicting a sequel. Last week came Murdoch Part II. The Australian-born owner of the New York Post, Chicago Sun-Times and scores of other newspapers, magazines and TV stations announced he was buying the other half of Fox from Denver Oilman Marvin Davis. Price: $325 million cash plus real estate in Los Angeles, Pebble Beach, Calif., and Aspen, Colo.

For Murdoch, Fox provides a rich library of films and shows, including the Star Wars trilogy, the M*A*S*H television series and movie classics starring Marilyn Monroe and Tyrone Power. Murdoch will probably broadcast the programs on his TV stations in Australia, Europe and the U.S. Davis made about $300 million on his investment in Fox, which he bought in 1981. That could now be just the start of something bigger. An avid Hollywood partygoer, Davis has no desire to say ciao to Tinseltown. Industry observers are predicting that he will soon announce another entertainment venture, possibly the purchase of the Warner Bros. studio.