Sky bid tussle to be settled by auction
The takeover of broadcaster Sky will be settled by an auction, the UK’s Takeover Panel has announced.
The broadcaster has been subject to rival bids from Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and US conglomerate Comcast.
The Takeover Panel said that the auction would start at 17:00 London time on Friday and end on Saturday evening.
It said all parties had agreed to the process, which will have a maximum of three rounds.
Fox had looked set to take over the 61% of Sky it does not already own until Comcast topped Fox’s bid.
Fox raised its offer to £24.5bn, but this was soon trumped by a £26bn bid from Comcast.
The process has also been beset by regulatory issues amid concerns over media plurality and the degree of Mr Murdoch’s influence over the UK media landscape.
Ian Whittaker, head of European media research at Liberum Capital, said it was rare for takeovers to go to an auction in this way, but it would ensure that the long-running battle for Sky came to a conclusion.
He said: “To give credit to the Takeover Panel, what they have done is to act decisively to stop this thing dragging on.
“It’s a very unusual course of action, but it’s the best course of action.”
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