News Corp Given All-Clear To Buy Sky
British secretary of culture Jeremy Hunt is set to approve American media company News Corporation’s full takeover of satellite broadcasting service Sky (officially known as British Sky Broadcasting), following several months of key negotiations between the relevant companies and the regulatory bodies overseeing the move.
News Corp could be new Sky owners
Hunt added that as part of this arrangement, News Corp are advised to carry on with their plans use news channel Sky News as an ‘independently-listed’ affiliate company as a way to ease concerns that News Corp are becoming too much of a presence in national media, due to their ownership of a number of leading newspapers, websites, TV channels and providers (amongst other ventures).
Part of the move to loosen ties with Sky News will come with a few conditions from News Corp, as measures designed to keep the familiar network branding as well as reducing concerns over the thinning ‘media plurality’ (number of independent news sources) being caused by News Corp’s dominance.
After becoming an affiliate network, Sky News are to include in their board and editorial meetings an ‘independent director’ with experience in senior journalism, as well as an independent ’monitoring trustee’ to help News Corp keep in line with the laws of the spinoff, amongst a series of external workers.
Sky are also required to cross-promote their news service through its websites and TV channels (and possibly vice-versa), while the official holding company will be known as Newco, and are responsible for collecting and supplying independent funding for the running of Sky News, with the spin-off guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years, and News Corp licencing out the Sky News brand for seven at least. News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch will claim a 39.1% stake in the Newco operation, while the remainder is to be owned by existing Sky shareholders.
Meanwhile, Hunt said of the planned official deal between News Corp and Sky: “I am aware of the huge interest in the proposed merger and am grateful to those who responded to the consultation. I have considered carefully the points raised and, as at all steps in this process, taken advice from the independent regulators. The regulators have confirmed that the proposed undertakings are still sufficient to ensure media plurality. I could have decided to accept the original undertakings but a number of suggestions were made in response to the consultation which could further strengthen the undertakings, particularly around editorial independence, business viability and the articles of association. I am therefore proposing some changes to the undertakings and I will now hold a further public consultation.”
Hunt’s approval of the takeover should be complete soon, and may , barring any final hurdles, will trigger a round of frantic price negotiations between News Corp and Sky’s independent directors.
Crispin Odey, a leading investor in Sky, could be one of the big winners from the planned takeover, after revealing the satellite TV company’s estimated value at £19B, which means that Crispin Odey, and the remaining investors, could be in for a collective £11.6B price for the 61% share that News Corp doesn’t already own. With so much being spent on the deal, will the legal benefits be enough for News Corp to see value in owning Sky?
Latest TV searches:
logos of news channelsRelated News:
- News Corp ‘Bully Tactics’ In Sky 100% Buy
- ABC News 24 To Launch In Australia On Live Stream
- Internet Now First Choice For News Above Newspapers
- Good News – Hulu on iPad. Bad News – Its Going To Cost
- Majority of young people now get news from the net
[...] who are currently in the midst of being taken over by News Corporation, announced that Sky Studios will have bigger and better facilities than ever before in a [...]