The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Sky stake part of £39bn Disney deal
Broadcasting giant Sky is set to have a new owner after Walt Disney sealed a £39 billion takeover of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets.
The move will see Disney snap up a significant slice of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, including its film and television studios, cable entertainment networks and international TV businesses such as its 39% stake in Sky.
As part of the deal, Disney will take on £10.2bn of debt, with shareholders in 21st Century Fox receiving 0.2745 Disney shares for each Fox share.
It means a wave of high-profile brands, TV stations and shows will fall into Disney’s hands, from X-men, Avatar and the Simpsons to FX Networks and National Geographic.
The entertainment giant will also seize control of Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox 2000, Fox Sports Regional Networks, Fox Networks Group International, Star India and Fox’s interests in Hulu, Tata Sky and Endemol Shine Group.
Fox said it will press ahead with attempts to buy the 61% of broadcaster Sky it does not already own before the Disney deal closes.
Despite speculation the takeover would see Fox chief executive James Murdoch installed as the boss of Disney, the company stressed that Bob Iger will remain chairman and CEO until 2021.
Mr Iger said: “We’re honoured and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings.”
Taking debt into account, the takeover is valued at £49.3bn.
Shares in Sky took a turn for the worse following the announcement, sinking more than 1% in early afternoon trading on the London Stock Exchange.
In a statement, Fox said: “We remain confident that the CMA and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will approve the transaction on its merits, according to the statutory timeline, and we continue to expect the transaction will close by June 30 2018.”
Mr Murdoch is struggling to finalise the Sky takeover after culture secretary Karen Bradley referred the acquisition to Britain’s competition watchdog for an in-depth investigation.