Murdoch-owned Fox has confirmed it’s selling its 39% stake in Sky to American cable giant, Comcast, ending a 30 year relationship between Murdoch and the UK broadcaster.
Announced today, Comcast will purchase Fox’s stake for £11.6 billion, thereby gaining full ownership of Sky.
Earlier this week, Sky confirmed it was urging shareholders to accept Comcast’s revised bid of £17.28/share, trumping Murdoch’s £15.67/share offer.
At the time Fox claimed it was “considering its options” concerning its remaining stake, with an announcement to be made in “due course”.
Comcast’s bid valued Sky at a whopping £29.7 billion – more than double Sky’s former value, before Fox put Sky in play nearly two years ago.
The agreement halts Murdoch’s desire to takeover the UK broadcaster, prior to selling some of his media empire to Disney.
It comes as Disney seeks to amp up its streaming portfolio, debuting ESPN+ sport next year to combat Netflix.
