VOD Vodafone Group Plc

By Joe Flint and Valentina Pop 

A 21st Century Fox Inc. office in the U.K. received a surprise inspection Tuesday by European Commission investigators, who are conducting an antitrust probe into sports rights and distribution of sports content.

The European Commission acknowledged "unannounced inspections" on Tuesday in several member countries at the offices of companies "active in the distribution of media rights and related rights pertaining to various sports events and/or their broadcasting."

In a statement, the commission didn't name the companies involved and said the inspections are a preliminary step into "suspected anticompetitive practices."

On Wednesday, Dutch cable operator VodafoneZiggo Group BV said it too had been subject to inspection by European regulators. The company said in a statement that it was cooperating fully and was unable to comment further. VodafoneZiggo is a joint venture between U.K.-based Vodafone Group PLC, the world's No. 2 wireless carrier by subscribers, and U.K.-based Liberty Global PLC, the world's biggest international cable company.

In a statement, Fox Networks Group, a division of 21st Century Fox, said it "is cooperating fully with the EC inspection." The statement offered no further details.

The investigators entered the Hammersmith, England, offices of Fox Networks Group, according to a person familiar with the matter. FNG's main businesses in Europe are sports and TV entertainment.

"The Commission has concerns that the companies involved may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," it said in its statement. "The fact that the Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself."

The Daily Telegraph earlier reported on the raid.

21st Century Fox and News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, share common ownership.

Fox Networks Group is an umbrella unit for Fox's global television operations. In Europe, through 21st Century Fox's separately held interest in Sky Broadcasting, which has platforms in the U.K., Germany and Italy, Fox Networks Group has rights to several popular sports. In the U.K., Sky carries several sports including the Premier League soccer, Formula One, cricket and darts. In Germany, Sky has the rights to the popular German soccer league Bundesliga and shares rights to the Union of European Football Associations. Fox's Sky Italia recently lost the rights to Italy's Serie A league but is a rights holder of the Union of European Football Associations.

The unit also owns a controlling 51% ownership stake in Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV, which holds the collective media and sponsorship rights to the Dutch Premiere League. The remaining 49% is owned by the Dutch Premiere League and the production company Endemol Shine Group, which 21st Century Fox has 50% interest in.

21st Century Fox has been facing drawn-out scrutiny from U.K. regulators for its proposed $16 billion deal to acquire full control of British pay-TV giant Sky PLC. The Sky deal has already received approval from the European Commission.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2018 10:22 ET (14:22 GMT)

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