Rupert Murdoch is embarking on a quest to build a European pay-TV colossus, according to a Bloomberg news report.
It says the 83-year-old chairman of 21st Century Fox is working on a deal that would give British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSB) control over Fox’s Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia satellite-TV units.
The transaction could be valued at U$14 billion and would give BSkyB – 39 percent owned by Fox – more power when negotiating for rights to entertainment and sports programs and with advertisers.
The talks, while preliminary, could lead to the creation of a “world-class multinational pay TV group,” BSkyB said this week.
“What we’re seeing are the flickering flames of a never-extinguished idea – of creating a pan-European entity that encompasses the Sky’s,” said Claire Enders, CEO of research firm Enders Analysis in London. “This is the long-cherished dream of the [Murdoch] family.”
