Rupert Murdoch is pursuing a long-awaited transaction that would transform British Sky Broadcasting Group into a European satellite-TV giant while also leaving his U.S.-based 21st Century Fox Inc. focused on entertainment programming.
BSkyB, partly owned by Fox, is working on a deal valued at about 10 billion euros ($14 billion) to acquire control of satellite carriers Sky Deutschland AG and Sky Italia from Fox, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Fox has 55 percent of Sky Deutschland and 100 percent of Sky Italia.
The deal would give BSkyB, already the biggest pay-TV provider in the U.K., oversight of companies that sell satellite programming to 8.5 million homes across Germany and Italy. By shedding the pay-TV units, Fox would be left with cable and broadcast networks plus movie and TV studios, making it more attractive to investors who want to bet solely on video production ― not distribution.
“I love this idea ― it puts the distribution assets out of the content company’s hands.” said Laura Martin, an analyst with Needham & Co. “This is strategic alignment. It makes for a pure-play content company for Fox, but it’s also good for BSkyB to have a bigger global footprint.”
The companies have been in talks for months, and a deal could be announced this summer, although they could still fail to reach an agreement, said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Murdoch’s Fox had previously sought to take full control of BSkyB in 2010. The transaction he’s now contemplating would leave Fox’s stake in the U.K. satellite provider at 39 percent.
Fox was forced to abandon its pursuit of full ownership of the company in 2011 amid political opposition after allegations that journalists at U.K. newspapers Murdoch controlled had hacked into celebrities’ phones and bribed police. (Bloomberg)
