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Comcast Doesn’t Have to Raise Its Sky Bid—at Least for Now


Comcast Corp. won’t have to raise its offer for Sky Plc, at least not yet.
A ruling from U.K. takeover authorities on Friday kept a floor price of 14 pounds per share for Sky, below the U.S. cable giant’s overall 26 billion pound ($34 billion) bid. That means Comcast, whose offer for the U.K. pay-TV company is currently the highest, doesn’t have to increase the price unless it’s outbid by 21st Century Fox Inc. and Walt Disney Co.
Sky is part of a global M&A battle between Comcast and Disney for scale. Comcast is trying to outdo Disney and acquire the British broadcaster and expand in Europe, where Sky has 23 million customers. Disney also wants Sky and would inherit the company as part of its purchase of most of Fox, if Fox can succeed in acquiring the 61 percent of Sky that it doesn’t already own.

TheU.K. Takeover Panel’s decision Friday reaffirmed its earlier ruling for the price Disney would have to offer for Sky if Fox or another buyer failed to first succeed in acquiring majority control. The ruling followed an appeal by Sky of the initial decision.
Comcast’s offer for Sky is at 14.75 per share, already well above the Takeover Panel’s threshold.
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