News Corp sells education unit to management team
News Corp. said Thursday it was selling its money-losing education unit Amplify to a management team supported by private investors.
Terms were not disclosed.
The unit—created by Rupert Murdoch's conglomerate to bring more education technology to the classroom—failed to deliver profits and the company said earlier this year it was evaluating alternatives for the division.
"We are extremely proud of the crucial work that the Amplify team has done to create a digital platform for the future," said News Corp. chief executive Robert Thomson.
"It is tragic that so many children are digitally literate but functionally illiterate, and it has been the cherished vision of all at Amplify to ensure that students, regardless of their background, have access to a contemporary curriculum delivered on a contemporary platform.
"There is no doubt that the foundations laid by the creative team at Amplify will be profoundly influential in coming years as both curriculum and classroom evolve."
News Corp. is the publishing arm of Murdoch's corporate empire, and includes newspapers around the world, including The Wall Street Journal, Times of London and dailies in Australia, as well as the HaperCollins book division.
Amplify was launched in 2011, as part of an effort to help bring new technologies to education.
One Amplify project was a tablet computer aimed at primary and secondary schools. But the company has stopped selling the tablet to new customers.
Murdoch, who spun off News Corp.'s faster-growing media-entertainment operations into 21st Century Fox in 2013, has been gradually moving away from day-to-day operations at the companies.
At News Corp., he holds the title of executive chairman and his son Lachlan is co-chairman.
© 2015 AFP
