Malone and Murdoch

Regulators have finally given the go-ahead to merge Australia’s two biggest pay-TV groups.

Austar, the takeover target, is majority owned by the US media mogul’s Liberty Global. Meanwhile Foxtel, the buyer, is half owned by local telecoms group Telstra and one-quarter held by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Talks to merge the two groups began a decade ago, but moved forward only last year after Austar deemed Foxtel’s A$1.52-a-share offer “appropriate”. Regulators deliberated over the impact on competition. Their indecision has already wiped out the 20 per cent premium Foxtel was willing to pay. And the greenback’s 2.4 per cent appreciation against the Australian dollar since will have knocked $26m off Liberty Global’s portion of the sale.