COMCAST HAS OUTBID Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in an auction to buy Sky plc, the British takeover regulator has confirmed.

The US company has agreed to buy the company for £30.45 billion (about €33.8 billion) in what would be the biggest takeover ever seen in the European media industry, if accepted by shareholders.

Comcast’s bid works out at £17.28 (about €19.23) per Sky ordinary share. Fox’s highest offer was worth £27.6 billion, Britain’s Takeover Panel said in a statement.

The future of Sky’s ownership has been uncertain for nearly two years.

As reported by Sky News, Sky agreed to be taken over by Fox, its biggest shareholder, in December 2016. Since then, Fox had agreed to sell most of its entertainment assets to Disney, including its Hollywood film studio and its 39.1% stake in Sky.

However, the bid was held up by a lengthy series of investigations by the Competition & Markets Authority and Ofcom, the broadcasting and telecoms regulator.

The Takeover Panel does not declare an auction winner but simply states the size of the offers made.

It set 11 October as the deadline “on which either offeror’s offer can become or can be declared unconditional” by shareholders.

Contains reporting from © AFP 2018