Murdoch cleared to buy BSkyB...

[ajprice]

Bring on the Deadpool and Mickey Mouse movie

[KTF]

BlackLabel said:

It appears Murdoch is giving up on his ambition to own all of Sky.

"Fox is expected to complete its planned buyout of the 60 per cent chunk of Sky that it doesn’t own prior to the Disney takeover, said the latter’s statement, meaning Disney will buy Sky and its 23 million British subscribers. (This suggests that behind the scenes, British ministers have given the green light to that controversy-stricken deal.) Disney added that it reckons the Fox/Sky buyout will complete by June 2018."

From: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/12/14/disney_bu...

[MissChief]

BlackLabel said:

It appears Murdoch is giving up on his ambition to own all of Sky.



"Rupert Murdoch has agreed to sell $66bn (£49bn) worth of 21st Century Fox’s assets, including a Hollywood film studio and 39% stake in Sky, in a deal that transforms his media empire.

The takeover involves the 86-year-old tycoon and his family taking a 4.25% stake in Disney, gaining control of assets including Avatar, X-Men, The Simpsons and Modern Family as well as the FX and National Geographic businesses."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/dec/14/rupe...

It's expected that, if it gets regulatory approval, the Fox/Sky deal will complete in the first few months of next year, far before any Fox/Disney deal happens.

[Derek Smith]

BlackLabel said:

I imagine one of the main reasons Murdoch jumped ship is because no one wants to be seen backing a loser. Cameron should have just called his bluff. Would a Murdoch backed Gordon Brown really have won the 2010 election?

That'd be the election where no one party won an overall majority, wouldn't it. As it was, Brown could still have formed a government if the libdems had decided not to commit suicide.

[BlackLabel]

Rupert Murdoch given government clearance for Sky takeover 'It’s now a matter for the Sky shareholders to decide whether to accept 21 Century Fox’s bid'

[MissChief]

BlackLabel said:

Rupert Murdoch given government clearance for Sky takeover 'It’s now a matter for the Sky shareholders to decide whether to accept 21 Century Fox’s bid'

Comcast have returned with an even bigger bid too, £14.75 a share.

[BlackLabel]

Comcast offer £17.28 per share.

"US cable giant Comcast has submitted the winning bid in the auction for broadcaster Sky, valuing the company at more than £30bn.

Comcast beat Rupert Murdoch's Fox in a rare blind auction process set by the UK's Takeover Panel."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45615441

[Oakey]

Don't they have a terrible reputation in the US? Wonder what that means for Sky customers.

[jjlynn27]

BlackLabel said:

Comcast offer £17.28 per share.

"US cable giant Comcast has submitted the winning bid in the auction for broadcaster Sky, valuing the company at more than £30bn.

Comcast beat Rupert Murdoch's Fox in a rare blind auction process set by the UK's Takeover Panel."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45615441

For my sins, had to go to London today, and was listening to LBC. Some guy said that in his opinion it'll be Comcast to come on top as they are desperate for more distribution channels in EMEA. He seemed quite clued up.

[Sheets Tabuer]

30bn when the young are using streaming services in favour of sky seems bizarre, also they seem to be terrible in the states, if they put up prices or start their throttling shenanigans that I read so much about I'm off.

[anonymous-user]

Comcast was very USA centric

Sky gets them into uk, Germany, Italy and bits of Asia

Is that worth 30bn? Maybe. It was certainly one of the only such options available to comcast

Will it pay off? It would be easy to mess it up, but it could work out well

[Halb]

Comcast just lost out on fox to Disney, it wasn't gonna take two gut pucnhes on the trot,

[MissChief]

Sheets Tabuer said:

30bn when the young are using streaming services in favour of sky seems bizarre, also they seem to be terrible in the states, if they put up prices or start their throttling shenanigans that I read so much about I'm off.

Sky have increased their customer base consistently for years though?

[Halb]

Sky had 10 million in 2010, and then 11 in 2015. I think their growth has slowed somewhat, which is understandable.

[rich1231]

Halb said:

Sky had 10 million in 2010, and then 11 in 2015. I think their growth has slowed somewhat, which is understandable.

They have over 22m subscribers.

[JulianHJ]

I'm not filled with confidence at Comcast's involvement in Sky. I'll happily bin my subscription if the prices rocket and/or the service levels suffer.

[Halb]

rich1231 said:

They have over 22m subscribers.

that's total european numbers, I was looking at UK growth.

[Jonesy23]

JulianHJ said:

if the prices rocket and/or the service levels suffer.

IF??

Where else do you think the 30 billion is going to get returned from? They can't exactly squeeze any more adverts onto the platform can they?

It's already expensive for what it is and now a company with a poor reputation for product & service has overpaid for it.

[r11co]

Jonesy23 said:

Where else do you think the 30 billion is going to get returned from? They can't exactly squeeze any more adverts onto the platform can they?

It's already expensive for what it is and now a company with a poor reputation for product & service has overpaid for it.

Good deal for the shareholders getting peak value for a product that they know has a limited shelf-life and has been leveraged about as far as it can go. Sky in Europe lag way behind on IP infrastructure and have to rely on their competition in the market to provide the connections for their services.

Comcast have completely missed the wood for the trees with this one, but Sky playing Disney/Fox off against them was a masterstroke.

[anonymous-user]

I’m wondering what the Murdochs will do with the money. When combined with the money they got from Disney, it is a tidy sum