UK takeover panel rules that US conglomerate must make offer if it completes its $66bn bid for FoxDisney will have to make a full takeover bid for Sky even if the competition regulator quashes Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7bn attempt to buy 100% of Britain’s biggest pay-TV broadcaster, the UK takeover panel has ruled. The owner of Walt Disney Studios has made a $66bn (£49bn) bid to take over 21st Century Fox, which owns a 39% stake in Sky. If the Competition and Markets Authority clears Murdoch’s bid and Disney is in turn allowed to complete its Fox deal, then Sky will come under the full ownership of the theme parks-to-films conglomerate. However, in December Disney turned its attention to an alternative scenario should Murdoch’s bid for Sky fail. Instead, Fox has beefed up its pledge to make Sky News independent within the Sky operation.

Source: The Guardian April 12, 2018 10:47 UTC