EU approves the merger of Comcast and Sky
Nothing appears to stand in the way of the merger between Europe's largest pay-TV group, Sky, and the U.S. cable company Comcast. Since Comcast and Sky operate in different markets, the European Commission has approved the acquisition.
In the multibillion-dollar bidding war for the British pay-TV broadcaster Sky, the U.S. cable group Comcast has now also received approval from the EU Commission. The Brussels-based authority announced on Friday that the takeover did not raise any competition concerns. In 2017, Brussels had already given the green light to the US group 21st Century Fox.
Sky is the leading pay-TV broadcaster in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and Austria. As Comcast and Sky are primarily active in different markets, the EU Commission cleared the acquisition without conditions. The two companies would only compete with each other to a limited extent.
Last week, the British government had already cleared the way for the bidding war. However, should Fox, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, win the bid, a spin-off of the Sky News channel would be necessary, it was said. Fox already owns 39 percent of Sky and wants to buy the rest. The deal has been in limbo for months because regulators fear the Murdoch clan could gain too much influence over the media landscape in the U.K. through the acquisition. That's why Sky News is to be spun off.
Comcast had made a bid of 22.5 billion British pounds (about 25.8 billion euros) for Sky at the end of April, reportedly drawing Sky management to its side. Fox wants to pay only 18.5 billion pounds. (AWP SDA DPA)
