Rupert Murdoch is continuing to look to consolidate his TV domain, as news was released on Friday that Sky has received an approach from 21st Century Fox in which Fox would acquire full control of Sky plc. According to reports in Reuters, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and others, Fox made a bid of approximately $14 billion for the remaining shares of the European pay TV giant. Thomsom Reuters says Fox is Sky’s largest shareholder, with a 39.1 percent stake.
Comparisons to another potentially massive service provider/content merger quickly followed across the web, which is of course AT&T’s plan to acquire Time Warner in an $85 billion transaction. Fox owns cable networks including FX and Nat Geographic, and the deal would offer it an influential platform for distribution in Europe across both pay TV and the internet.
“After a period of negotiation, the Independent Directors of Sky and 21st Century Fox have reached agreement on an offer price of £10.75 per share in cash, less the value of any dividends subsequently paid by Sky,” a press release dated Dec. 9 states. “However, certain material offer terms remain under discussion and there can be no certainty that an offer will be made by 21st Century Fox, nor as to the terms of any such offer.”
According to a Wall Street Journal article, if completed, the deal would value all of Sky at about $23 billion, and Fox has until Jan. 6 to say whether it will make a firm offer.
The WSJ also points out that in 2011, News Corp. dropped its bid to take full control of Sky after a scandal over the reporting tactics at one of its U.K. newspaper titles raised government and public outcry over the deal.
