Comcast beat Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in the battle for Sky on Saturday after offering €34 billion ($40 billion) in a tense auction to settle the fate of the pay-television group.
US cable giant Comcast bid £17.28 a share for control of London-listed Sky during the auction, bettering £15.67 a share offer by Fox, the Takeover Panel said in a statement shortly after final bids were made today.
Comcast’s final offer was significantly higher than its bid going into the auction of £14.75, and compares with Sky’s closing share price of £15.85 yesterday.
The bid has already been greenlit by Sky’s independent directors and shareholders now have until October 11 to decide whether to accept the recommended offer.
Rupert Murdoch
Murdoch has craved full control of Sky for years and his Fox company already owns 39% of the company. But Murdoch has agreed to sell most of his TV and film assets to Disney in a separate takeover deal, meaning even if he had been victorious he would not have been in total control for long.
It is also a setback for US entertainment giant Walt Disney, which agreed a separate $71bn deal to buy the bulk of Fox’s film and TV assets, including the Sky stake, in June and would have taken ownership of the British broadcaster following a successful Fox takeover.
There are more than 12 million Sky customers across Ireland and the UK.
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