Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. formally applied to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to separate its publishing and entertainment assets into two independent, publicly traded companies.

The new News Corp will comprise a range of newspaper brands, information and integrated marketing services, digital real estate services, book publishing, digital education, and sports programming and pay-TV distribution in Australia, the company said in a statement.

Robert Thomson, a close confidant of Murdoch and currently managing editor of the Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of its publisher Dow Jones and Co, will lead the new publishing company.

“The filing of the Form 10 is another important step forward in the evolution of our company and in the establishment of two independent global leaders in Fox Group and the new News Corporation,” chief executive Murdoch said.

A Form 10, also known as the general form for registration of securities, is one of the most basic sources of information about a publicly traded security.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.