21st Century Fox Gets OK From U.K. Regulator to Buy Sky

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The U.K.'s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (located at 100 Parliament St. in London) has signed off on 21st Century Fox's proposed acquisition of satellite service Sky.

The U.K.'s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (located at 100 Parliament St. in London) has signed off on 21st Century Fox's proposed acquisition of satellite service Sky.

A British regulator has approved 21st Century Fox’s proposed acquisition of Sky as the bidding war between Fox and Comcast over the European satellite broadcaster escalated.

With the approval of the U.K. Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, Fox said in a statement that all regulatory preconditions to its acquisition have now been satisfied and waived. A committee of independent Sky directors waived the preconditions on their merger agreement, Fox said.

Fox is looking to acquire the 61% of Sky it does not already own.

Comcast might still be standing in the way. After the close of trading on Wednesday (July 11), the cable company raised its bid for Sky to 14.75 British pounds sterling, or $34 billion.

That topped Fox’s latest bid, made Wednesday morning, for 14 pounds per share, or $32.5 billion. Fox’s new bid was 30% higher than its previous offer.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.