News Corp says it has increased its holding in the German pay-TV operator Premiere to 19.9%, purchasing part of a holding from investment bank Morgan Stanley.

Only last month, the Murdoch company acquired 14.48% of Premiere by buying stock owned by Germany’s Unitymedia. News Corp’s European pay-TV holdings include a 39% stake in BSkyB, with more than 8.8 million subscribers, and owns 100% of Sky Italia, with more than 4 million subscribers.

Although operating in one of Europe’s largest markets, Premiere only has 3.65 million customers.

After the news, Premiere shares went up slightly to 15.07 Euros.

(Source: Broadbandtvnews.com)