Comcast offers $31 bln for Sky, going head-to-head with Fox

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. cable company Comcast Corp made a 22 billion pound ($31 billion) offer for pay-TV group Sky (Amsterdam: BK8.AS - news) on Wednesday, beating an already agreed takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's Fox by 16 percent.

Comcast (Swiss: CMCSA.SW - news) , which first proposed an offer at the same 12.50 pounds-a-share price in February, said it would continue to engage with the Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) 's independent directors with a view to obtaining a recommendation for its deal.

($1 = 0.7160 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)