Rupert Murdoch seeks to consolidate his television empire across two continents. 21st Century Fox Inc. agreed to acquire the rest of the British pay-TV Sky for $14 billion. According to Bloomberg markets the Australian tycoon increases his investment in Sky up to 60.9% an acquisition that represents a premium of around 40% over Sky’s closing price recorded on December 8. Sky is going to obtain 10.75 pounds per share from Fox Inc. The deal should take place, as reported by Fox Inc., with a “scheme of arrangement” an agreement between the company, creditors, and shareholders allowed by the United Kingdom legislation. This kind of agreement also allows the buyer to rapidly get to the 100% of the acquisition.
According to Milano Finanza, Rupert Murdoch’s main goal is to complete the total acquisition of the British pay-TV Sky in order to unify the TV platforms that he owns and exploit the depreciation of the pound against the dollar. Fox Inc. also confirmed that Sky’s headquarters will remain in London and heavy investments will be performed on the campus. Rupert Murdoch is confident to close this deal by the end of 2017 even because if the agreement will be delayed Sky shareholders will benefit from an extra dividend per share that will be paid in 2018. The parties involved in the deal also agreed to a 200 million-pound breakup fee.
