Comcast is expected to lodge a formal $31 billion bid for Sky this week and the British government is thought to be on the brink of finally giving Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox the final greenlight to buy the 61% of the European pay-TV firm that it currently does not own.
Britain’s takeover regulator said Walt Disney Co. must offer to buy all of Sky if it acquires 21st Century Fox’s 39% stake and if Rupert Murdoch’s Fox is prevented from purchasing all of the European pay-TV company itself.
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is making a new pitch to win approval for its planned takeover of British broadcaster Sky. The first proposal would see 21st Century Fox selling Sky’s news business to Disney Under the second proposal, Sky News would be legally separated from the rest of Sky in a bid to ensure its editorial independence.
Comcast’s gatecrashing of Rupert Murdoch’s eight-year campaign to buy pay-TV group Sky has sparked a regulatory race with 21st Century Fox .
Comcast Corp’s roposal to buy Sky Plc for $31 billion has raised the specter of a potential bidding war between with Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and Walt Disney Co.
Exclusives
“The market is predicting a much higher offer,” notes one analyst, while another predicts “it is likely Fox will now walk away.”
Comcast is offering 22.1 billion pounds ($29.50 billion) for Sky. The proposed cash offer values each Sky share at £12.50, which represents a 16% premium to the bid made by Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox pledged to keep Sky News independent and continue funding the loss-making channel for five years, in an attempt to overcome British regulatory concerns over its $15.7 billion takeover of pay-TV firm Sky.
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is hoping the creation of an independent editorial board to protect the news channel at bid target Sky will satisfy British regulators and allow it to finally take control of the European pay-TV group.
The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority issued a preliminary ruling Tuesday that 21st Century Fox’s planned $16.3 billion takeover of satellite service Sky plc isn’t in the public interest because it would give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much control over the country’s news media. The Competition and Markets Authority’s decision will be finalized by May 1, when the regulator will send its report to the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, who will make a final decision on the deal.
As Walt Disney Co.’s own plan to purchase the bulk of Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox looms in the background, the U.K.’s merger watchdog is set to issue provisional findings this week on whether the Sky takeover would give Murdoch too much influence in the U.K. and if Fox upholds broadcasting standards. With a final deadline scheduled for the start of March, Murdoch has little time to address any concerns.
21st Century Fox has reached a $90 million settlement of shareholder claims arising from the sexual harassment scandal at its Fox News Channel, which cost the jobs of longtime news chief Roger Ailes and anchor Bill O’Reilly.
Fox’s media/entertainment businesses, which have been rumored to be for sale, could be worth $50 billion in a potential sale, according to one report. Fox is considering selling many of its non-sports, non-news TV businesses, which Michael Nathanson, senior media analyst for MoffettNathanson Research, estimates could essentially split the company in half — leaving $45 billion in sports and news assets.
Sky has threatened to close Sky News if it stands in the way of 21st Century Fox’s proposed $15 billion takeover of the pay-TV operator. Sky says regulators should not assume it will continue to provide a news service because the company would probably review the operation “in the event that the continued provision of Sky News in its current form unduly impeded” the merger.
Personalities, egos and dollar signs never can be discounted when sizing up major media business maneuvers, but one motivation above all others led 21st Century Fox and Disney to the negotiating table: the rapidly shifting media landscape.
Revelations that U.S.-based Fox News renewed O’Reilly’s contract after he settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $32 million came just a month after Britain’s culture secretary asked competition regulators to review the takeover. Karen Bradley said one of the reasons for her decision was that Fox News’ handling of a broader sexual harassment scandal raised concerns about corporate governance at Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
As 21st Century Fox continues its pursuit of full control over European pay-TV group Sky, chairman James Murdoch won re-election today despite significant shareholder opposition.
Avaaz, an activist group that has opposed 21st Century Fox’s bid for European pay TV giant Sky on Friday filed court papers seeking a judicial review of British media regulator Ofcom’s conclusion that the company would remain a “fit and proper” broadcast license holder if Fox, controlled by the Murdoch family, takes full control of it.
The British government confirmed Thursday that it would, as expected, send 21st Century Fox’s $15 billion takeover bid for Sky to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority for a formal review. The authority will take about six months to investigation whether Fox and the Murdoch family would wield too much power on the British media landscape as a result of the merger and whether they are “fit and proper” owners who would uphold local broadcasting standards.
A detailed review by U.K. competition regulators would delay the $15 billion acquisition by 21st Century Fox and cast further uncertainty over the proposed deal.
British authorities have received yet more clarification from media regulator Ofcom on 21st Century Fox’s attempted takeover of Sky, with a decision on whether to refer the deal to competition authorities still pending. Despite having received the go-ahead in all other relevant territories where Sky operates, the deal has been bogged down by regulatory investigations and government indecision in the U.K.
Fox News is no longer available in the U.K. now that 21st Century Fox has decided to drop the feed of its U.S. news channel from the Sky satellite platform. Fox said in a statement the decision was made because the channel has very little viewership and is not a money-maker for Sky.
Rupert Murdoch’s proposed $14.9 billion takeover of Sky by 21st Century Fox has been dealt a blow after the government said it intended to call in the competition authorities for a further six-month examination of the deal. Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, announced the decision in the House of Commons after considering an investigation into the takeover by the media watchdog, Ofcom.
FuboTV, a live streaming TV service, today announced an agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive that will add several top U.S. channels to the company’s entry-level bundle. As a result of a new, […]
The authorities will deliver reports to the government on Tuesday on whether the American conglomerate 21st Century Fox should be allowed to buy Sky, a satellite giant.
FuboTV, the sports-centric streaming TV subscription provider, has raised $55 million in funding from investors including 21st Century Fox, Scripps Networks Interactive, and the U.K.’s Sky. The sizable round brings the New York-based startup to $75.6 million raised to date. The company will use the capital infusion to expand programming, marketing and infrastructure.
Experts say that on current evidence the various sexual and racial harassment claims are unlikely to derail the bid for Sky, though it’s still too early to know for sure. The takeover values Sky, which broadcasts Premier League soccer and top film offerings across Europe, at 18.5 billion pounds ($24 billion). For Fox, the situation is all too reminiscent of Britain’s phone-hacking scandal, in which journalists working for Murdoch newspapers were accused of gaining illegal access to the voicemail messages of celebrities, members of the royal family and crime victims.
Murdoch Ambitions Hang In The Balance
Rupert Murdoch and his sons have spent nearly a year trying to clean up the sexual harassment controversies at Fox News. Now comes the hard part.
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox already owns just over 39% of Sky. An earlier attempt to acquire the rest was scuttled by the 2011 phone-hacking scandal that rocked his British newspapers. This deal is worth $14.6 billion and values Sky shares at $13.41 each.
Five years after then-20th Century Fox scrapped a deal to acquire Sky amid the hacking scandal, it looks like a sale will happen after all. Sky said today that it has reached an agreement on an offer price for £10.75 per share in cash ($13.52), or around $15 billion.
