News Corp to acquire video ad technology company Unruly

(Reuters) - News Corp said it would buy Unruly Holdings Ltd, a UK-based video advertisement technology company, giving it the technology that analyzes historical sharing behavior to predict the potential for video ads to go viral. Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corp will pay 58 million pounds ($89.60 million) in cash to Unruly and another 56 million pounds if the company meets certain performance targets. News Corp, whose revenue is largely dependent on its newspaper holdings in the United States, Australia and Great Britain, has been diversifying its business as readers shift to digital media and newspapers advertising revenue slides. Unruly, which will continue to be led by its three co-founders, will operate as a separate business unit, reporting to News UK Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks. Unruly's acquisition is the first big announcement from the company since Brooks rejoined News Corp earlier this month. She was cleared of criminal charges in a phone-hacking scandal just over a year ago. Shares of News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins, were marginally down in early trading on the Nasdaq. ($1 = 0.6473 pounds) (Reporting By Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)