21st Century Fox Inc. has reached a preliminary deal to acquire full control of Sky Plc for £11.2 billion ($14.1 billion),
Bloomberg reported,
citing a Dec. 9 filing in the U.K. Fox already holds a 39% stake in Sky, the article said.
Rupert Murdoch, who controls Fox, is seeking the deal to “consolidate his television empire,” the Bloomberg article said.
“The deal was reached between independent directors of both boards, though other elements of the transaction remain under discussion, and there’s no certainty an official offer will be made by Fox,” Bloomberg reported. The deal will have to be approved by European regulators, the article said.
“Murdoch has long made clear his desire to own all of Sky,” the Bloomberg article said. “He was thwarted in a 2010 attempt to buy out other shareholders for 7.8 billion pounds. The proposal was derailed by revelations that two of his newspapers hacked into the mobile phones of celebrities and politicians.”
“The prospect of a Fox approach has spurred complaints over corporate governance at Sky, where Murdoch’s son James is chairman,” the article said. “Some investors have raised concerns about whether they would get a fair shake if Fox, which the 43-year-old [James] Murdoch leads as chief executive officer, were to seek a merger.” James Murdoch was Sky’s CEO from 2003 to 2007, the Bloomberg report said.
“More than 28 percent of votes cast at Sky’s annual meeting in October opposed [James] Murdoch’s re-election to the board. Excluding votes representing Murdoch interests, about 51 percent were against James Murdoch’s re-election,” the article said, citing Manifest, a proxy voting agency.
An eight-member independent committee of Sky’s board has been formed to consider the deal with Fox, the Bloomberg article said. (Source: Bloomberg, Dec. 9, 2016.)
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