UK takeover panel raises Sky stakes
THE body that oversees UK takeovers raised the minimum price that the Walt Disney Company must pay for British pay-TV company Sky Plc as Disney battles Comcast Corporation for control of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Disney would have to bid for all of Sky at £14 (€15.8) a share if it manages to acquire the entertainment assets of Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox before a bidding war for Sky between Fox and Comcast concludes, the Takeover Panel said in a statement.
The Takeover Panel’s decision is unlikely to affect the outcome of the contest as the floor price is in line with Fox’s current bid for Sky and below the £14.75 a share offer from Comcast.
Disney and Comcast are vying for Fox assets including a 39pc stake in Sky.
The Takeover Panel can uphold the interests of other Sky shareholders by forcing Disney and Comcast to buy them out at a minimum price.
That price is calculated by examining the bids for the Fox assets and ascribing an implied valuation to the Sky stake.
The panel’s so-called chain principle mandates a full takeover bid for a company if a buyer acquires more than 30pc of its shares, even if those shares are acquired as part of a larger deal.
The panel had previously ruled, following Disney’s initial $52.4bn bid for Fox, that a Disney offer for Sky would be required at £10.75 a share.
Disney has since increased its offer for the Fox bundle by 35pc. Sky is seeking to review the latest ruling, the panel added in the statement, without giving further details of Sky’s concerns.
“Each of Disney and Fox is considering its position,” it added.