Yahoo Finance Murdoch offers Sky News to Disney to push through takeover deal
Sky News could be sold off to Disney or ring-fenced as a separate company under plans revealed by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
His proposal for the satellite news broadcaster is a central plank of his plan to push through a deal for his 21st Century Fox to takeover the remainder of the Sky network.
Regulatory concerns have been raised about the future independence of the news channel should that takeover happen.
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The plans revealed on Tuesday propose the news channel become a distinct company within Sky, run by the head of Sky News.
Funding for Sky News would also be guaranteed for 15 years, as opposed to the 10 years previously outlined by Fox.
According to a statement by 21st Century Fox, executive chairmen of Sky, Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, and the chief executive, Chase Carey, would not try to influence editorial decisions made by the head of Sky News.
Various politicians have questioned just how independent Sky News would remain should the Murdoch family be, ultimately, at the top of the organisation that owns it.
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Critics believe that should Murdoch buy the 61% of Sky he does not already own, then the empire would control too much of UK news media.
The Murdoch family also control News UK, the owner of the Times, Sun and TalkSport radio station.
The deal is subject to Competition and Markets Authority scrutiny – and the CMA earlier ruled the £11.7bn deal was not in the public interest.
It has further been proposed that Disney, which is seeking a £47bn takeover of most of Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, including Sky, would now be willing to include the news channel.
“The Walt Disney Company has expressed an interest in acquiring Sky News, with a view to adding it to Disney’s existing portfolio of television channels, whether or not Disney’s proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox proceeds,” said Fox in a statement.
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US media giant Comcast has also thrown its hat into the ring for Sky with a £22.1bn bid in February.
Fox said it believed the “enhanced firewall remedies” proposed to safeguard the editorial independence of Sky News “addressed comprehensively and constructively the CMA’s provisional concerns”.
The CMA now has until May 1 to report back to Matt Hancock, who as secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has the final say on the matter.
