New York Post

BRIGHT GREEN SKY

$34B+ value: rpt.

- By CARLETON ENGLISH and ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD Additional reporting by Reuters cenglish@nypost.com

Billionair­e investor Paul Singer’s Elliott Management believes British broadcaste­r Sky is worth more than $34 billion, according to a report by Britain’s takeover regulator.

The valuation eclipses other bids made for Sky by TwentyFirs­t Century Fox, which already owns a 39 percent stake in Sky, and Comcast.

Just last month, Comcast increased its offer for the pay-TV provider to $34 billion, beating Fox’s offer of $32.5 billion.

Other hedge funds including Davidson Kempner and Farallon Capital also say Sky is worth more than current bids, according the regulator’s 34page report.

The hedgies place Sky’s value at no less than 15.01 UK pounds ($19.40) per share — or, $34.3 billion, the report said. Sky shares closed at 15.44 pounds in London.

This is “consistent with our view that Fox and Disney won’t let Comcast have Sky,” BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield told The Post.

A Fox rep declined to comment.

Sky has been at the center of a bidding war between Comcast and Fox. Walt Disney re- cently entered the fray as it recently won regulatory approval to acquire Fox entertainm­ent assets for $71 billion in June.

Comcast also tried bidding on Fox assets but ultimately dropped out. “We’re focused on Sky now,” Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said last month. “We think it’s a great business. It will fit well, it’s a good use of capital, it’s also unique.”

The report by Britain’s Panel and the Takeover Appeal Board discussed the minimum price Disney would have to cough up in order to win the prize.

In summarizin­g the hedgies’ reasoning for Sky’s higher valuation, the report noted that Sky continued to perform well amid the bidding process. It also cited Sky’s renewal of English Premier League broadcasti­ng rights, saying it fetched “an unexpected­ly favourable price.”

In April, the panel said Disney would have to buy Sky if it acquired Fox assets before Fox or Comcast got control of the company.

Fox shares a common owner with News Corp., the publisher of The Post.

Reps from Elliott didn’t respond to requests to comment.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States