UK pay-television broadcaster BSkyB is set to confirm deals to acquire sister companies Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia in Germany and Italy from media company 21st Century Fox tomorrow (Friday) morning.
Multiple reports in the British media said that the acquisitions, which would lead to the creation of ‘Sky Europe’, would be announced to coincide with the disclosure of Sky’s full-year financial results.
Fox, which has a 39-per-cent stake in Sky, currently has a 57-per-cent stake in Sky Deutschland and owns 100 per cent of Sky Italia.
The deals would bring 19 million subscribers in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria into the same company. Sky, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia are all major sports broadcasters, with each having live rights to their respective top football divisions.
Fox is likely to use the proceeds of the deal to support a follow-up bid for media company Time Warner, which recently rejected an initial $80bn (€58.8bn) offer.
Analysts have said that combining operations could save hundreds of millions of pounds, while the new ‘Sky Europe’ pay-television force would be able to compete more aggressively for pan-European sports media rights.