Murdoch’s bid for control of Sky scuppered by rival’s offer
£42billion bidding war for TV giant
MEDIA mogul Rupert Murdoch faces a multi-billion bidding war to buy his beloved Sky broadcasting company.
US cable firm Comcast yesterday made a colossal £22billion offer for Sky, trumping Mr Murdoch’s earlier £19billion offer, made through his 21st Century Fox empire.
All eyes are now on how billionaire Mr Murdoch, who launched the satellite giant in 1989, will react.
Analyst George Salmon said: “There’s a distinct possibility of a bidding war.”
While Comcast is not a household name in the UK, the £180billion US firm owns movie studio Universal Pictures, Shrek maker Dreamworks Animation and the company behind hit period drama Downton Abbey.
Mr Murdoch’s stake in Sky, through Fox, has fallen over the years to 39%. He wanted to buy back the rest of it and Sky, which has 23 million customers in Europe, originally backed the offer. But, in a dramatic development, Sky’s board yesterday withdraw its support. Comcast, which pledged to at least maintain spending on the Sky News channel for a decade, said the tie-up would benefit customers through greater “innovation”. And it claimed job losses would be “limited”. Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts said: “We have long believed Sky is an outstanding company.” Fox said it was “considering its options”. The situation is further complicated by Mr Murdoch agreeing since his last offer to sell a big chunk of his empire to Disney.