Comcast Clears EU Hurdle for Bid for Sky -- WSJ
June 16 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Stu Woo
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 16, 2018).
European Union regulators on Friday said they won't object to
cable giant Comcast Corp.'s $29 billion bid for Sky PLC, clearing
another hurdle in what is expected to be a bidding war for the
British pay-TV giant with Walt Disney Co. and Rupert Murdoch's 21st
Century Fox Inc.
The Sky battle -- which has played out for months -- more
recently has been relegated to a side skirmish in a much bigger
standoff between Disney and Comcast. Each are trying to buy a big
chunk of Fox assets. Disney and Fox agreed to a $52 billion stock
deal in December, but Comcast this week made an unsolicited $65
billion cash offer for the same Fox assets.
Fox already owns 39% of Sky. For 18 months, it has been trying
to buy the other 61% for about $16 billion. Disney has supported
the effort since it agreed to buy most of Fox. In February, Comcast
entered the fray by announcing its own bid for Sky.
Comcast has offered GBP12.50 per share ($16.59), above Fox's
GBP10.75. Sky's stock traded above both prices, GBP13.46, as of
midday Friday as shareholders anticipated a bidding war. Hedge fund
Elliott Management Corp. has built up more than 3% stake this
year.
Both Disney and Comcast have said they consider Sky one of Fox's
most appealing assets. Both are seeking to expand their
international footprint, and both like the London-based company's
business model.
Operating in seven European countries, Sky is a
telecommunications carrier that sells TV, internet and phone
services. It is also a media company that produces its own
entertainment, sports and news programming.
Sky's American counterparts are trying to emulate its example of
a corporation that owns not only the wires and airwaves but also
the programming that flows through them. Analysts expect more
mergers between telecom and media companies after a judge allowed
wireless giant AT&T Inc.'s $81 billion purchase of media giant
Time Warner Inc.
European Union regulators on Friday said the Sky bid from
Comcast, which has limited business across the Atlantic, didn't
raise competition concerns in Europe. That was Comcast's last major
regulatory hurdle, after Britain's government said last week that
it didn't raise similar concerns in the U.K.
Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said in a statement that
he "welcomes" the EU decision and looks forward to presenting the
offer to shareholders. A Fox spokesman declined to comment.
The British government said last week it was optimistic it could
reach a deal to clear Fox's bid for Sky. The government was
concerned Fox's full ownership of Sky would give the Murdoch family
too much influence in British media. The Murdoch family owns a 39%
stake in both Fox and in News Corp, which publishes three U.K.
newspapers as well as The Wall Street Journal.
The U.K. government said it would negotiate with Fox until next
week to reach a deal in which Fox agrees to sell Sky's news
operations to Disney, as Fox proposed, or another party. Then the
government must give the public 15 days to review the proposal,
meaning the Comcast-Fox bidding war might not begin until July.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 16, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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