LOS ANGELES _ Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox finalized its $14.8 billion cash bid for full control of the pay-TV giant Sky on Thursday, triggering what could be a rigorous regulatory review process in Europe.
If approved, Fox would take over a business that it launched more than 25 years ago and would further the company's ambitions to be a global powerhouse.
"The strategic rationale for this combination is clear. It creates a global leader in content creation and distribution, enhances our sports and entertainment scale, and gives us unique and leading direct-to-consumer capabilities and technologies," Fox said in a statement.
Some in Britain, however, are wary of the consolidation. In recent days, critics have called on government regulators to take a hard look at the proposed deal, which would enable the Murdoch family to solidify control of one of Europe's leading TV broadcasters.
Late last week, Fox reached a preliminary accord to buy the nearly 61 percent of Sky that it does not own. On Thursday, Fox said it had finalized an agreement with independent Sky directors to pay 10.75 British pounds for each outstanding share of Sky that it doesn't own. Fox said it expects the deal to be complete by the end of 2017. If the deal drags on into 2018, Sky stockholders would receive a special dividend.
Now, Britain's secretary of state for culture and media, Karen Bradley, must determine whether to recommend an in-depth review into whether the proposed consolidation of Sky would give the Murdoch family too much control over media in Britain.
The Murdochs, through publishing company News Corp., own several influential newspapers in Britain, including the Times of London, the Sunday Times and tabloid Sun. Although News Corp. and Fox are separate entities, the Murdoch family controls both with 39 percent of the voting shares.
Fox's bid for Sky comes five years after the company abandoned an earlier attempt to acquire the satellite TV provider, which now has 22 million subscribers in Britain, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Austria.
Sky boasts exclusive rights to soccer and other sporting events, making it a must-have subscription for many consumers. It also sells broadband Internet service, an online streaming plan and a Sky-branded phone service.
The earlier deal for Sky collapsed under the weight of the 2011 cellphone hacking scandal that unleashed a public outcry in Britain that enveloped the media company and bruised its reputation.
Fox, then part of News Corp., was forced to walk away from the earlier transaction, valued at $12 billion, after revelations that reporters and operatives for the company's London tabloids had hacked into voice mail messages left on cellphones for members of the royal family, celebrities including Hugh Grant, and even crime victims.
The scandal was costly for the media company, and it was a setback for James Murdoch, who had been in charge of Fox's British businesses when the ethical lapses occurred. Now, James Murdoch is chief executive of all of Fox and based in New York. He also serves as chairman of Sky.
This week, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested the Fox-Sky deal be delayed. He reportedly recommended to British officials that they complete the second phase of an inquiry into the phone hacking scandal before giving a green light to Fox's plan to consolidate Sky.
The move reveals lingering strong sentiment surrounding Rupert Murdoch, 85, who long had an outsized role in British politics.
In addition, some Sky shareholders have protested the takeover, saying the amount offered by Fox is too low and does not represent Sky's true value. They want Fox to raise its bid. Fox countered that the bid represents a 40 percent premium over Sky's closing price last week, before Fox announced its preliminary bid.
Fox proposed the purchase comes at a good time for the American media company because Sky's shares were down and because the U.S. dollar has been particularly strong since Britain's "Brexit" vote to leave the European Union.
Fox holds a 39.1 percent interest in Sky. The bid values Sky at $23 billion. Since the deal was first announced, Fox shares in the U.S. have experienced volatility. Research firm MoffettNathanson downgraded Fox stock Monday, and other firms were skeptical.
"We scratch our heads in terms of what a distribution company headquartered in the U.K. does for a global content (company) headquartered in the U.S. over the long term," Wells Fargo Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote in a report this week. "We're not buyin' it."
The deal also needs approval from the European Union.
Beyond consolidating Sky's revenue of about $15 billion a year, Fox is hoping to glean consumer insights from Sky's customers to help Fox expand its businesses, potentially including streaming services offered directly to consumers.
