UK Culture Secretary: Divestment of Sky News to Disney Meets Criteria -- Update
June 19 2018 - 11:53AM
Dow Jones News
(Adds details on the proposed terms)
By Adria Calatayud
The British culture secretary, Matt Hancock, said Tuesday that
revised terms offered by 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOX) to divest Sky
PLC's (SKY.LN) news operations to Walt Disney Co. (DIS) meet the
criteria to approve Fox's bid for the 61% stake in the U.K. pay-TV
group it doesn't already own.
On June 5, Mr. Hancock said the sale of Sky News to Disney or to
an alternative suitable buyer could remediate media plurality
concerns caused by a potential deal, but laid out a timeline of 15
days to reach a deal. The culture secretary will now open a 15-day
public consultation and is expected to make a final decision after
July 4.
Both Sky and Fox welcomed Mr. Hancock's statement in separate
releases.
Under Fox's latest proposal, Sky News would be divested to
Disney following the close of the Sky transaction, and Fox has
committed to increase its funding of Sky News to 15 years under
Disney's ownership, the company said.
Sky is 39%-owned by 21st Century Fox (FOX), which shares common
ownership with News Corp (NWS), the parent company of Dow
Jones.
The improved undertakings offered by Fox include a commitment
from Disney to operate and maintain a Sky News branded news service
for 15 years, an extension of the funding committed by Fox to 15
years and an increase in the total funds available to Sky News to
at least 100 million pounds ($132.5 million) a year, Mr. Hancock
said. Disney would be restricted from selling Sky News for 15 years
without the consent of the culture secretary and would be required
to commit to preserve the editorial independence of the news
service, he said.
In December 2016, Fox offered GBP11.7 billion ($14.6 billion at
the time) for the stake in Sky PLC it doesn't already own. However,
that proposal was topped by a GBP22 billion bid from Comcast Corp.
(CMCSA) earlier this year. Comcast said last week that it would
post an offer document to Sky shareholders, after the European
Commission approved its takeover proposal. The Comcast bid was
cleared by British regulators earlier this month.
Read more about the Sky takeover at https://on.wsj.com/2GVUM2A
(WSJ paywall) or https://bit.ly/2KKyeTZ (NewsPlus).
Write to Adria Calatayud at
adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 19, 2018 11:38 ET (15:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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