M&A


Comcast ups Sky bid to £26bn as bidding war continues

Comcast has raised its cash offer for Sky to £26 billion ($34 billion) after Fox’s cash bump to £24.5 billion earlier this week. The offer takes Comcast’s bid up to £14.75 per share. The media giant said that its increased offer has been recommended by the Sky Independent Committee of Directors. “The Increased Offer represents […]

21st Century Fox ups Sky bid to £24.5bn

Twenty-first Century Fox has increased its offer for Sky to £24.5 billion (€27.7 billion), outbidding rival Comcast which made a £22.1 billion approach for the pay TV operator earlier this year. Fox’s increased offer of £14 for each Sky share marks a 12% premium on Comcast’s £12.50 per-share offer and is roughly 30.2% higher than the initial […]

Comcast lines up buyers for Fox sports assets

Comcast is lining up potential buyers for 21st Century Fox regional sports networks (RSNs) in an attempt to ease antitrust concerns about a new bid to acquire the majority of Fox’s assets, according to Reuters. The media giant is talking to private equity firms, including Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Group LP, about acquiring the […]

Sky bid heats up for Fox, Comcast

21st Century Fox is expected to receive a green light from culture secretary Matt Hancock to take control of Sky this week, triggering a potential bidding war for the UK-based pay TV operator with Comcast. Hancock’s clearing of the deal is expected to conditional on Fox selling Sky News – most likely to Disney – and […]

John Stankey predicts ‘tough year ahead’ for HBO

John Stankey, the new overseer of HBO post-AT&T merger, has predicted a difficult year ahead for the network, which he likened to the pains of childbirth. Stankey, the new chief executive of Warner Media, made the comments during a town hall meeting with 150 employees in Manhattan, New York, according to The New York Times. […]

US broadcast M&A reaches $5.11bn for 2018

US broadcast station mergers and acquisitions (M&A) raised $5.11 billion in the second quarter of 2018 with over $5.01 billion attributed to TV station sales, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. This is the largest quarterly deal volume since the second quarter of 2007, according to the research group. The news arrives as consolidation of […]

BBC & C4 plan £500m to bid for UKTV

The BBC is in talks with Channel 4 (C4) to make a £500 million ($657 million) bid to take full control of UKTV, according to reports. BBC Studios is already the owner of 50% of UKTV, but it wants a majority stake in the company as it is a major source of profit for the […]

Fox sets shareholder meeting to asses Disney offer

21st Century Fox has called a special meeting of stockholders on July 27 to vote on Disney’s amended merger offer for the bulk of Fox’s assets. The Fox board has recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the amended agreement. However, shareholder The Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI) has reportedly called on Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch […]

US Justice Department approves Disney’s $71.3bn Fox bid

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved Disney’s bid for Fox assets, so long as it divests 21st Century Fox’s 22 regional sports networks. A lawsuit was filed by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division to block the acquisition if the mouse house did not divest Fox’s sports assets. Approval was granted once Disney agreed to […]

Gray TV to buy Raycom Media for $3.65bn

Atlanta-based TV station Gray Television has said that it will buy rival broadcaster Raycom Media in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.65 billion. The combined company will reach nearly a quarter of total US households with 142 television stations in 92 markets. Gray’s shares jumped by 16.02% by the end of Monday, after the network […]