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European deals: Comcast offers £22B for Sky; Cineworld completes Regal deal

S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of European media and communications deal announcements, completions and updates from Feb. 26 to March 2.

TOP NEWS

* Comcast Corp. has made a takeover bid of £12.50 per share for Sky plc, valuing the British pay TV giant at about £22 billion, directly challenging the offer of £10.75 per Sky share by 21st Century Fox Inc. Comcast's proposed terms represent a premium of about 16% compared to Fox's offer of about £11.7 billion for the nearly 61% of Sky that Fox does not already own. Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, said the company intends to use Sky as a platform for growth in Europe. Comcast previously launched an offer to acquire Fox, but has lost to Walt Disney Co., which offered to acquire Fox's international and domestic assets for about $52.4 billion in December 2017. Prior to the announcement of intent to acquire Sky, the U.S. cable company was reportedly considering reviving its bid for Fox.

* 21st Century Fox said it "remains committed" to its current offer to acquire Sky despite Comcast Corp.'s rival bid. According to a Feb. 27 Reuters report, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the cable operator is open to a co-owning arrangement with Fox or Walt Disney Co., which is in the process of buying various Fox properties, "as long as we have 50% plus one share." Comcast has committed to maintaining Sky's headquarters in the U.K., if a deal between Comcast and Sky pushes through. A Comcast spokesman confirmed in a separate Feb. 27 report that it will ask regulators in Brussels to review its Sky offer to kickstart the regulatory process, which could need to be accelerated due to Fox's own pending offer.

* The U.K.'s Cineworld Group plc on Feb. 28 completed its acquisition of Regal Entertainment Group. Cineworld paid about $3.6 billion, excluding related transaction fees and expenses and repayment of certain company debt. Each share of Regal's class A common stock and class B common stock was automatically converted into the right to receive $23 in cash, according to a Form 8-K filed Feb. 28. Cineworld funded the payment through a rights offering. Trading in Regal's common stock were suspended before the open of trading on March 1.

M&A Communications

* Rostelecom PJSC has agreed to buy a 75% stake in Open Mobile Platform LLC and a 75% stake in Votron LLC, securing a controlling stake in Sailfish Mobile OS RUS, a mobile operating system developer. The acquisition of the operating system will help the Russian national telecommunications operator expand its capabilities in promoting the integrated services for its customers, according to a March 1 news release.

* Qatar Foundation has agreed to buy Vodafone Europe BV's 51% stake in the joint venture company Vodafone and Qatar Foundation LLC. The JV controls PQSC. Vodafone Group Plc said Feb. 26 that Qatar Foundation will acquire Vodafone's stake for 1.35 billion Qatari riyal (€301 million), with 1.25 billion riyal (€279 million) payable at completion and 100 million riyal (€22 million) payable 12 months after completion, which is expected to happen in the next three months. The transaction values Vodafone Qatar at an enterprise value of 6.50 billion riyal (€1.45 billion).

* Nokia Corp. plans to acquire U.S.-based privately held wireless networking technology provider Unium Inc., according to a Feb. 25 news release. The addition of Unium's software and intelligent mesh wireless technology will bolster the Finnish company's whole-home Wi-Fi portfolio. Unium's technology helps maximize in-home wireless networking speeds while optimizing every connection based on the specific capabilities and performance of each device.

* Global cloud networking provider GTT Communications Inc. agreed to buy fiber network operator and cloud networking platform provider Interoute Communications Ltd. for about €1.9 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash, in a deal that GTT said will expand its network in Europe. GTT said the acquisition will add 72,000 kilometers of fiber network in Europe, spanning 24 metro areas and interconnecting 126 cities across 29 countries. It also adds 15 data centers, 17 virtual data centers and 51 colocation facilities. The buyer expects the transaction to close in three to six months, subject to customary regulatory approvals.