Murdoch's Fox Takeover of Sky Is Provisionally Rejected by U.K. Regulators
23 1월 2018 - 5:58PM
Dow Jones News
By Stu Woo
British antitrust regulators said Tuesday that 21st Century Fox
Inc.'s proposed $15.5 billion acquisition of the 61% of U.K. pay-TV
giant Sky PLC that it doesn't already own would be against public
interest, saying it would give the Murdoch family too much
influence in British media.
The unexpected determination raises the biggest hurdle yet in
Mr. Murdoch's efforts to consolidate ownership of the broadcaster.
While it is preliminary and not binding on the government, which
must approve the deal, It could also scramble the calculations in
Walt Disney Co.'s separate $52 billion deal to buy many of Fox's
assets, including Sky.
Technically, the determination shouldn't affect the terms of the
Disney-Fox deal. But Sky was one of the jewels in the portfolio of
assets that Disney is buying from Fox. Should the government block
the Fox-Sky deal, Disney would then have to initiate a new bid for
the rest of Sky to take 100% control, assuming the Disney-Fox
transaction is approved separately. It is unclear if Disney would
feel it needs to consolidate it Sky ownership.
The regulator said any eventual Disney move to consolidate
ownership could face less scrutiny, and be easier to pull off. If
Disney succeeded in its bid for the Fox assets, it would
"significantly weaken" the link between the Murdoch family and Sky.
It said the Disney deal to buy the Fox assets would be subject to
its own regulatory review.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that
Mr. Murdoch already holds significant influence in the British
media through News Corp, which publishes widely read U.K.
newspapers, including the Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun. Mr.
Murdoch and his family are major shareholders in News Corp, which
also publishes The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Murdoch and his family are also major shareholders of
Fox.
British regulators said acquiring 100% of Sky, a cable provider
that also runs its own news channel, would give the Murdoch family
"greater influence over public opinion and the political agenda
through Sky News, and would add to the ... already significant
influence over public opinion and the political agenda through its
control of the News Corp titles."
In a statement, Fox said that "we are disappointed by the CMA's
provisional findings. We will continue to engage with the CMA ahead
of the publication of the final report in May." Fox also said it
was pleased it passed the regulator's other test, of whether Fox
was committed to British broadcasting standards.
Tuesday's report was preliminary. The authority will publish a
final report in May, which will be passed on as recommendations to
the British culture secretary, who can approve the Sky transaction,
reject it or approve it with conditions.
Fox said Tuesday that it expects the deal to be closed by
June.
Write to Stu Woo at Stu.Woo@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 23, 2018 03:43 ET (08:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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