THE TANGLED TAKEOVER

21ST Century Fox currently owns 39pc of Sky. It launched a £11.7bn bid to buy the remaining shares in December 2016.

Then in December 2017, Murdoch struck a separate deal to sell most of Fox, including Sky, to Disney for £39bn. Two months later US cable giant Comcast said it planned to make an offer for Sky, and yesterday tabled a £22bn counter-bid. Sky has now dropped its support for Fox, and is courting both suitors.