FOX UPS BID FOR SKY IN ANOTHER MOVE AGAINST COMCAST

LONDON» Media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox increased Wednesday its bid to take full control of lucrative European pay TV service Sky in a prolonged battle with U.S. rival Comcast.

Fox raised its bid to $18.58 a share as it seeks the 61 percent of Sky not already under its control.

The company says this is 12 percent higher than the last bid from Comcast and values Sky at $32.5 billion. Fox has increased its bid by just over 30 percent since its first offer in December 2016.

Shares in Sky Plc were down 0.8 percent at 14.90 pounds, suggesting investors believe Comcast could come back with another improved offer.

Sky operates in Austria, Germany, Ireland and Italy as well as the U.K. It has 22.5 million customers.