Comcast Corp. has launched a $31-billion bid to acquire European pay-TV provider Sky in an aggressive move to wrest the service away from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox _ and the Walt Disney Co.
Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is largely based in the U.S., but it wants to expand its international portfolio. The London-based Sky satellite television service boasts more than 22 million customers in Britain, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy.
The Philadelphia cable giant on Tuesday offered Sky stockholders $17.44 a share for their stakes in the satellite TV service.
Comcast's bid is a broadside to Fox and Disney, which also wants to control Sky. The move likely will upend Fox's planned takeover of Sky, which has been stuck in a protracted regulatory review in Britain.
A Sky spokesperson declined to comment.
For Comcast, buying Sky would allow it to continue to bulk up at a time of frenzied media consolidation. Telecommunications behemoth AT&T is trying to buy media company Time Warner Inc., which owns CNN and HBO, and Disney in December swooped in with its $52.4-billion bid to buy much of 21st Century Fox.
Medium-sized media companies have become increasingly worried that they won't have the heft to compete against technology giants Amazon, Google, Netflix and Facebook, which have taken turf away from the traditional companies such as NBC, Disney, CBS and Fox.
Comcast is going on the offensive. It has been stinging ever since it tried, and failed, to buy the Fox assets last fall. Instead, Murdoch accepted Disney's bid _ even though Comcast had offered more money than Disney. Murdoch said he felt Disney's bid was superior, in part, because Fox shareholders, including the mogul and his family, would become stakeholders in Disney _ the most valuable and prestigious entertainment company around.
As part of its deal to buy much of Fox, Disney would take over Fox's stake in Sky _ giving Disney prominent television channels and a distribution platform in Europe.
Comcast, too, has long wanted to bulk up internationally and that was part of its motivation to try to buy the Fox assets _ which include Fox's current 39 percent stake in Sky.
By making the bid now, Comcast hopes to capitalize on the problems that Murdoch and his family have had persuading British regulators to allow the family to consolidate Sky. Fox in late 2016 offered $15 billion for the 61 percent stake of Sky that Fox currently does not own. It is waiting for Britain's Competition and Markets Authority to rule on whether Fox can buy the remaining stake. Fox executives have said they expect to complete the purchase of the remaining shares in Sky by the end of June.
But Fox's long-term plan is to eventually turn Sky over to Disney _ should Disney's $52.4-billion takeover of the Fox assets be approved by regulators.
Representatives of Fox and Disney were not immediately available for comment.
Sky has been a consistent innovator in its use of technology to deliver a fantastic viewing experience and has a proud record of investment in news.
Comcast said its cash offer was 16 percent higher than what Fox offered Sky shareholders in 2016. Because Fox still controls 39 percent of Sky, Comcast appears to be trying to buy more than 50 percent of the company so it can have majority control.
Murdoch helped launch Sky in the late 1980s and considers it a jewel. The 86-year-old mogul would be loath to lose control of Sky to a fierce rival such as Comcast.
Now, Fox may have to sweeten its offer for Sky to try to keep Comcast at bay.
"We think Sky is an outstanding company," Comcast Chairman and Chief Executive Brian Roberts said in a statement. "Sky has been a consistent innovator in its use of technology to deliver a fantastic viewing experience and has a proud record of investment in news and programming."
He added that Comcast would like to use Sky "as a platform for growth in Europe."
"We already have a strong presence in London through our NBCUniversal international operations, and we intend to maintain Sky's UK headquarters," Roberts said. "Adding Sky to the Comcast family of businesses will increase our international revenues from 9 percent to 25 percent of company revenues."
