Mar 2, 2017
Murdoch speech aims to soothe fears over Sky deal
James Murdoch launched a charm offensive to win over potential opponents to 21st Century Fox's attempt to seize full control of media group Sky as he prepares to ask European Commission regulators to formally approve the £11.7bn deal. In a speech to the Enders media industry conference in London, the Fox chief executive, who is also chairman of Sky, sent a clear signal to the UK government that he considered the deal would be good for the industry. Although he avoided direct comment on the regulatory process, which could be triggered as early as Friday, he underlined how the UK media industry had changed since 2011 when the Murdoch family's previous bid for Sky collapsed following the fallout from the phone hacking scandal. Fox's £10.75-per-share offer for Sky, which values the European pay-TV broadcaster at £18.5bn, has sparked intense political and media scrutiny. The Murdoch media empire was also split up in 2013 with Fox separated from News Corp, the previous bidder that controls the family's global newspaper assets.
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