Comcast makes $31bn bid for Murdoch’s Sky

US cable giant Comcast joined in the battle for pan-European satellite TV group Sky on Tuesday, outbidding Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, whose takeover ambitions have hit UK government resistance.

In a surprise announcement before the London stock market opened, Comcast presented an informal all-cash offer of £12.50 per share for Sky, or more than £22 billion ($31 billion) overall.

That is substantially more than the £10.75 per share or £11.4 billion that Fox has offered for the 61% of Sky it does not already own.

The announcement — and the prospect of a bidding war — sent Sky’s share price soaring 21% on the London Stock Exchange.

“We would like to own the whole of Sky and we will be looking to acquire over 50% of the Sky shares,” said Comcast chief executive and chairman Brian L Roberts. “We are confident that we will be able to receive the necessary regulatory approvals.”

Sky told shareholders to take no action in the absence of a bid.

Analysts meanwhile eyed even higher offers.

“Sky is a prized asset for Murdoch so this could quickly escalate into a bidding war,” said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler. Britain’s competition regulatorhasprovisionallyruled that Fox’s offer was “not in the public interest”.

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