Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Dec 15, 2016 13:20:51 GMT -6
variety.com/2016/tv/global/21st-century-fox-formal-offer-european-pay-tv-operator-sky-1201941816/
21st Century Fox Makes Formal Offer for European Pay TV Operator Sky
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has submitted a formal offer to take over European pay-TV operator Sky in a £11.71 billion ($14.6 billion) deal. Fox already owns 39% of Sky stock, so is offering to buy the remaining 61% at £10.75 ($13.41) per share, which is the same as stated on Friday when news of a preliminary deal broke. The transaction would value Sky at £18.5 billion ($23.1 billion).
In a statement, 21st Century Fox said the deal “creates a global leader in content creation and distribution, enhances our sports and entertainment scale, and gives us unique and leading direct-to-consumer capabilities and technologies.”
The company added: “The enhanced capabilities of the combined company will be underpinned by a more geographically diverse and stable revenue base. It will also create an improved balance between subscription, affiliate fee, advertising and content revenues. This combination creates an agile organization that is equipped to better succeed in a global market.”
Karen Bradley, the U.K. media minister, now has 10 working days to decide if the deal damages media plurality. If she believes it does, she can ask the media regulator Ofcom to investigate, and recommend whether it should be blocked. As well as controlling Sky through 21st Century Fox, Murdoch controls the Times and Sun newspapers through News Corp.
Murdoch had to abandon a previous attempt to take over Sky five years ago due to the phone-hacking scandal at his U.K. tabloids. 21st Century Fox is likely to argue that media power has become diluted since that time with the rise of social media and online news sites like BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post and Vice.
As well as the U.K., Sky operates in Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Austria, and has around 22 million subscribers. In the last financial year, Sky’s revenue grew by 7% to £12 billion ($14.9 billion), and operating profit rose by 12% to £1.56 billion ($1.9 billion).
21st Century Fox Makes Formal Offer for European Pay TV Operator Sky
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has submitted a formal offer to take over European pay-TV operator Sky in a £11.71 billion ($14.6 billion) deal. Fox already owns 39% of Sky stock, so is offering to buy the remaining 61% at £10.75 ($13.41) per share, which is the same as stated on Friday when news of a preliminary deal broke. The transaction would value Sky at £18.5 billion ($23.1 billion).
In a statement, 21st Century Fox said the deal “creates a global leader in content creation and distribution, enhances our sports and entertainment scale, and gives us unique and leading direct-to-consumer capabilities and technologies.”
The company added: “The enhanced capabilities of the combined company will be underpinned by a more geographically diverse and stable revenue base. It will also create an improved balance between subscription, affiliate fee, advertising and content revenues. This combination creates an agile organization that is equipped to better succeed in a global market.”
Karen Bradley, the U.K. media minister, now has 10 working days to decide if the deal damages media plurality. If she believes it does, she can ask the media regulator Ofcom to investigate, and recommend whether it should be blocked. As well as controlling Sky through 21st Century Fox, Murdoch controls the Times and Sun newspapers through News Corp.
Murdoch had to abandon a previous attempt to take over Sky five years ago due to the phone-hacking scandal at his U.K. tabloids. 21st Century Fox is likely to argue that media power has become diluted since that time with the rise of social media and online news sites like BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post and Vice.
As well as the U.K., Sky operates in Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Austria, and has around 22 million subscribers. In the last financial year, Sky’s revenue grew by 7% to £12 billion ($14.9 billion), and operating profit rose by 12% to £1.56 billion ($1.9 billion).