A dramatic end to the long battle for ownership of the British broadcaster Sky will take place starting Friday.
Continue Reading Below
British regulators said Comcast and 21st Century Fox will battle for Sky through an auction.
The U.K. Takeover Panel said Thursday the auction would consist of a maximum three rounds of bidding, starting Friday and ending Saturday, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
The winning offer will be known on Saturday.
It is unusual for an auction to be used for a corporate deal and is extremely rare for settling a takeover of a public company the size of Sky.
Advertisement
The British broadcaster has a market capitalization of more than $35 billion.
The auction pits Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, which already owns 39% of Sky, against Comcast.
The Walt Disney Co. has separately agreed to buy a big chunk of Fox, including its Sky stake.
That puts Disney and Fox on the same team in the weekend auction.
21st Century Fox is the parent company of FOX News and FOX Business.
