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Britain finally clears Murdoch's Fox to bid for Sky

July 12, 2018 at 07:02 am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain finally cleared Rupert Murdoch to buy Sky on Thursday, removing the final obstacle to a head-to-head battle between Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox and U.S. rival Comcast for the European pay-TV prize.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said: "It is now a matter for the Sky shareholders to decide whether to accept 21st Century Fox's bid."

Fox raised its offer for the 61 percent of Sky it does not own to 14 pounds a share, valuing the group at $32.5 billion(24.60 billion pounds), on Wednesday, only to see Comcast come back with a $34 billion bid.

Wright's predecessor Matt Hancock said last month that Fox's proposal to sell Sky News to Walt Disney co, or to an alternative buyer, was likely to be the best remedy to assuage concerns about the extent of Murdoch's influence over the media in Britain.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton)

Stocks mentioned in the article

Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
WALT DISNEY COMPANY (THE)	112.4 USD	-0.45%	-4.03%	207B
COMCAST CORPORATION	39.63 USD	+1.64%	-1.27%	155B
SKY	- GBX	-.--%	+0.03%	-
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOX	49.66 USD	-67.77%	-.--%	0

Keith Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch is a businessperson who founded TFCF Corp. and who has been the head of 11 different companies. He occupies the position of Co-Chairman for Fox Corp., Executive Chairman for Fox News Network LLC (a subsidiary of Fox Corp.), Executive Co-Chairman at News Corp., Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Ruby Newco LLC (a subsidiary of News Corp.), Chairman at Sky Global Holdings, Inc. and Executive Chairman at FOX Business Network. Mr. Murdoch is also on the board of STAR Group Ltd. and The Partnership for New York City. Keith Rupert Murdoch previously occupied the position of Executive Co-Chairman at TFCF Corp., Executive Chairman of News Corp Australia Pty Ltd., Chairman at The DIRECTV Group, Inc., Chairman & Chief Executive Officer for Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. and Chairman for Dow Jones & Co., Inc. He received an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree from Worcester College.

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