U.K. CLEARS FOX, COMCAST BIDS FOR BROADCASTER SKY
21st Century Fox has gotten the provisional go-ahead from the British government to buy U.K. pay-TV broadcaster Sky, subject to the sale of its Sky News channel. Also getting approval was rival bidder Comcast, which was told by U.K. Culture Secretary Matt Hancock he would not intervene in its attempt to outbid Fox. Rupert Murdoch, whose family controls Fox and 39% of
Sky, in December 2016 launched a bid to buy the remaining 61% of Sky it doesn’t own. Murdoch and Fox have agreed to divest Sky News to Disney, which has made a $52 billion bid for a collection of Fox assets. Comcast submitted a competing offer for Sky in February and is considering a bid trumping Disney’s for Fox assets, too.