BSkyB and News Corp: Rupert Murdoch and the regulators

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has made a bold approach to take full control of BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster in which it owns a 39% stake.

The takeover approach, made last week, valued Sky at around £12bn. It was rebuffed by the Sky board for “deeply undervaluing” the company.

One insider said: “There is still a meaningful gap between the two companies in terms of price.”
News Corp reacted by threatening to walk away from the putative deal. Sky and its advisers were last night still considering the company’s options. BSkyB is being advised by Morgan Stanley and UBS.

Financing a cash offer for BSkyB is not thought to be a problem for NewsCorp, which has been helped by the stronger dollar. It had total assets of about $55bn (£37bn) as of March this year and annual revenues of $32bn. It made a post-tax profit of $839m in its most recent quarter, down from $2.7bn in the same period last year. Its other US interests include 20th Century Fox, the maker of the Avatar and Titanic films, and Dow Jones newswires.

Sky, which built its business on the back of bids for Premiership football rights, is close to its target of 10m subscribers. Last week, BSkyB bought Virgin Media’s subscription television channels, including Living, Bravo and Challenge, for £160m.

FILM

20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Español
Twentieth Century Fox International
Twentieth Century Fox Television
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Studios Australia
Fox Studios Baja
Fox Studios Los Angeles
Fox Television Studios

TELEVISION

20th Century Fox Television
20th Television
bTV
Foxtel
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox International Channels Italy
Fox Kids (1990–2002)
Fox Sports Australia
Fox Telecolombia
Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Studios
Imedi TV
Latvijas Neatkarīgā Televīzija
MyNetworkTV
STAR TV
TV5 Rīga
Sky Television

CABLE ASSETS

Big Ten Network (49%)
Fox Business Network
Fox College Sports
Fox Movie Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox Soccer Channel
Fox Sports Enterprises
Fox Sports en Español
Foxtel (25%) -
Fox Sports Net
FUEL TV
FX Networks
Fox Reality
National Geographic Channel (50%)
National Geographic Channel UK (50%)
Speed Channel
SportSouth
LAPTV (Latin America — co-owned with Paramount Pictures/Viacom, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/MGM Holdings and Universal Studios/NBC Universal)
Telecine (Brazil — co-owned with Globosat Canais, Paramount Pictures, MGM, Universal Studios and DreamWorks)

DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE ASSETS

BSkyB [United Kingdom] (39.1%)
Sky Deutschland (39.96%)
SKY Italia
SKY Network Television [New Zealand] (43.65%)
Foxtel [Australia] (25%)
Star TV [India & Greater China] (100%)
Tata Sky [India] (20%)

INTERNET

Fox Interactive Media
AmericanIdol.com
AskMen.com
Fox.com
Foxsports.com
GameSpy
Hulu.com
kSolo
IGN
Drownedinsound.com
MySpace
MyNetworktv.com
NewRoo.com
Strategicdatacorp.com
Scout.com
SpringWidgets
WhatIfSports
Beliefnet
News Digital Media
Slingshot Labs
Authonomy via HarperCollins

MAGAZINES AND INSERTS

Alpha
Australian Football Weekly
Australian Golf Digest
Australian Good Taste (with Woolworths)
Australian Parents (with Woolworths)
Best of the Gold Coast Magazine
Big League
Chopper
Country Style
delicious. (with the ABC)
donna hay
Gardening Australia (with the ABC)
GQ Australia
Inside Out
Lifestyle Pools + outdoor design
Live to Ride
MasterChef Magazine
Modern Boating
Modern Fishing
News America Marketing
Overlander 4WD
SmartSource
Super Food Ideas
Tattoo
Truck & Trailer Australia
Truckin' Life
Two Wheels
Two Wheels Scooter
Vogue Australia
Vogue Entertaining + Travel

NEWSPAPERS AND INFORMATION SERVICES

UK

The Sun
News of the World
The Times
Sunday Times

USA

New York Post
The Wall Street Journal

AUSTRALIA

The Daily Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Mail
The Sunday Times