MURDOCH’S 21ST CENTURY FOX BIDS US$14B FOR SKY

ENTERTAINMENT

Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty- First Century Fox has struck a preliminary deal to buy the 61 per cent of British pay-TV firm Sky PLC it does not already own for around US$ 14 billion, five years after a political scandal wrecked a previous bid. The proposed offer of 10.75 pounds (US$13.52) a share in cash is backed by Sky’s independent directors and would strengthen the position of James Mur- doch — CEO of Fox and chairman of Sky — in his 85- year- old father’s ( pictured) media empire. People familiar with the matter said Fox pounced after Britain’s vote to leave the EU in June sent the pound and Sky’s share price tumbling. Owning Sky would give Fox control of a pay-TV network spanning 22 million households in Britain, Ireland, Austria, Germany and Italy.