Disney Required to Make Offer for Sky if Fox Deal Proceeds: Takeover Panel
April 12 2018 - 5:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Adria Calatayud
The U.K. Takeover Panel said Thursday that Walt Disney Co. (DIS)
will be obliged to make a mandatory offer for Sky PLC (SKY.LN) if
its proposed acquisition of assets from 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOX)
proceeds.
The regulatory body said that Disney would have to bid within 28
days of completion of its acquisition of Fox assets and that it its
offer would have be of 10.75 pounds a share ($15.25), unless Fox
has acquired 100% of Sky or Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) or any other
party has bought more than 50% of Sky by that time.
Fox has also offered to buy the 61% stake in Sky it doesn't
already own for a total of GBP11.7 billion, or GBP10.75 a share.
Comcast said on Feb. 27 that it was considering making an offer of
GBP12.50 a share for the whole of Sky.
The Takeover Panel said that it considers that securing control
of Sky might reasonably be considered to be a significant purpose
of Disney's acquiring control of Fox assets.
Following the statement from the Takeover Panel, Sky advised its
shareholders to take no action.
Fox's offer is under regulatory scrutiny of British regulators.
The country's antitrust regulator--The Competition and Markets
Authority--in January provisionally ruled the Fox offer against the
public interest on media plurality grounds. However, Fox has
proposed remedies to allay the regulators' concerns.
21st Century Fox and News Corp., parent company of Dow Jones,
share common ownership.
Write to Adria Calatayud at
adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 12, 2018 06:08 ET (10:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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