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Go once … twice … sold! The long-standing confrontation for the European pay-TV giant culminated with a three-round auction on Saturday.
Comcast has presented the highest bid of the European giant pay TV Sky in a showdown with 21st Century Fox, with an offer of $ 22.60 per share, or 17.28 pounds per share, which values Sky to 38.8 billion, or 29.7 billion. .
Comcast Saturday, as expected, has prevailed on 21st Century Fox of Rupert Murdoch, who has de facto support for Walt Disney, in the battle for European giant Pay TV Sky following a spectacular auction from one day.
Fox / Disney offered a final bid of $ 20.50, or £ 15.67 per share.
Fox has long held a 39% interest in the company, with the two contenders not submitting a definitive Sky auction or abandoning the hunt for the acquisition before the deadline of Saturday, September 22, triggering the auction.
When the hammer finally fell in the early evening in London, Comcast had won with its all-cash offer that allows the US cable giant to expand its business across the Atlantic by acquiring Sky and its 23 million subscribers BSkyB.
"It's a great day for Comcast," Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts said in a statement, noting that Sky was offering the US cable giant an international platform to grow on.
"This acquisition will allow us to grow quickly, effectively and significantly our client base and expand internationally, and we can not be more excited about the opportunities that come our way." We now encourage Sky shareholders to accept our offer, completing before the end of October 2018, "added Roberts.
21st Century Fox made his first auction, followed by Comcast. The two media giants then clashed with the latest sealed offers.
Once the auction was over, the UK Takeover Panel, which oversees UK public takeover operations, officially announced that Comcast was the winner of the very rare auction with its bid per share.
Sky's shareholders now have two weeks to file their shares with Comcast, who are evaluating the respective offers of Comcast and 21st Century Fox. In a statement issued at the end of the auction, an independent Sky Plc committee urged shareholders to accept Comcast's winning bid.
"As the price of Comcast's final offer is substantially higher, it is in the interest of all Sky shareholders to accept Comcast's offer.The successful closing of the Comcast bid, urges shareholders to accept immediately, "said the pay television giant.
This summer, Comcast reduced its offer to Sky to 26 billion pounds (34 billion dollars), or 14.75 pounds per share, following the announcement of Fox that he had increased his offer to 24.5 billion. pounds ($ 32.5 billion), or £ 14 per share.
Comcast has presented its project for Sky as an attempt to expand the international reach and revenues of the company abroad, beyond the mature US market. Sky operates in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria, and has a new service in Spain.
Comcast's winning offer for Sky is also presented while global streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime challenge traditional cable and satellite TV players.
The European Union in mid-June approved Comcast's candidacy after the UK government said it would not require further scrutiny by regulators. On 12 July, the United Kingdom Government finally agreed to Fox's candidacy under conditions that had for the most part been detailed previously.
In early August, Fox released its official offer document for Sky's shareholders, but retained its offer to buy at a price lower than Comcast's. The move gave Fox and Disney more time, making September 22 the deadline for both contenders to lift their Sky offers.
In July, Comcast has pulled out of a showdown with Walt Disney for much of 21st Century Fox, including its current 39% Sky stake. Disney won the bidding war with a bid of $ 71.3 billion. Comcast said that he would rather focus on Sky.
"Under the UK Takeover Code, horse trading between Fox / Disney and Comcast on Sky could result in indirect actions, including if Comcast sells its 30% stake to Disney now L & # 39; Fox's deal ends, "said Matthew Harrigan, an analyst at Buckingham Research Group, in a recent report. "The action around Hulu could also involve the attitude of NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, with a view to providing long-term programming to Hulu."
Sep 22nd 4:15 pm Updated with the statements of Comcast and Sky plc after the end of the auction and publication of its official results.
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