Comcast on Wednesday formalized its offer for British broadcaster Sky in a deal valued at 22.1 billion pounds, or about $31 billion.
Twenty-First Century Fox has been trying to buy the 61 percent of Sky that it doesn’t already own, but the attempt has been rebuffed by regulators who are concerned about Fox having too much control over British media. Fox already agreed on a deal of 18.5 billion pounds, or $25.8 billion. Comcast’s offer was a 16 percent premium to Fox’s bid for the broadcaster.
Sky has withdrawn its recommendation for Fox’s offer in the wake of Comcast’s formalized bid.
Comcast, parent of CNBC, has also included a number of commitments in the offer, including maintaining the annual budget for Sky News for 10 years at a minimum of 2017 levels, and establishing an editorial board to assure the independence of Sky News.
Separately, Comcast reported earnings and revenue that topped expectations.
