Comcast Starts Bidding War With 21st Century Fox for Sky

Comcast formally unveiled a $30.7 billion takeover bid for Sky, putting the American cable giant squarely in a takeover battle with Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for control over the British satellite broadcaster.  The terms of the long-awaited proposal were good enough to prompt Sky to withdraw its recommendation for Fox’s $16 billion bid for the 61 percent of Sky that it does not already own.

Comcast’s move seizes upon Fox’s troubles in getting government approval for its bid, which was announced in late 2016. British regulators have questioned whether buying Sky, which operates the 24-hour news channel Sky News, would give Mr. Murdoch too much control over the country’s news media, given his ownership of newspapers like The Times of London and The Sun. It also changes the calculus for Fox and its ally Walt Disney, which has already announced a $52.4 billion bid for most of Fox’s businesses. Both have already offered concessions to allay regulators’ concerns, including an offer to sell Sky News to Disney. But now they may be forced to pay up to win Sky, which has customers in Austria, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, and holds broadcast rights to the English Premier League and other professional sports competitions.