Fox, Comcast battle for Sky

Comcast’s bid to acquire the bulk of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets appears to be over. Instead, the cable giant will focus on fighting Fox for control of Sky, one of Europe’s most prized media companies.

Twenty-First Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, increased its takeover offer for Sky on Wednesday, valuing the satellite broadcaster at about $32.5 billion, above the $30 billion offer put forward this year by Comcast. An independent committee of the Sky board said it would back the new bid.

Comcast plans to make a competing offer for Sky as soon as this week, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Its previous bid had already received approval from the British government, and Fox is likely to receive approval for its bid as soon as Thursday. That would allow Sky shareholders to evaluate competing bids on price alone.

But Sky, which has more than 23 million customers across five European countries, is just one element in a larger, complex corporate showdown.

Both the Walt Disney Co. and Comcast have bid to buy most of Fox’s entertainment assets, including Sky and another growing international business, Star India, which would help increase their global reach. Now Comcast is unlikely to continue pursuing Fox and will instead concentrate its efforts on acquiring Sky, the people familiar with the process said.

Disney has agreed to pay $71.3 billion for most of Fox, a deal that Fox has accepted and federal regulators have approved. Buying full control of Sky, which Disney CEO Robert Iger has called “a real crown jewel,” is critical to that effort.