Comcast to make $ 52.4 b cash bid for Fox

Comcast has officially notified the European Commission that it will make a bid for Sky.

It comes as the US Cable operator and owner of the NBC broadcast network prepares to intensify its bid for 21st Century Fox with an all cash deal.

Comcast plans to put $52 billion (€ 43.7 b) in cash on the table for the majority of the Fox’s assets. Last December, Disney said it would purchase Fox for a $52.4 billion stock deal.

Both companies have an eye on the proposed takeover of Time Warner by AT&T that the telco is determined to move forward, despite opposition from the Trump administration.

The Commission has the power to waive through the Comcast’s £22 billion bid for Sky, impose conditions, or open a four-month investigation if it has serious concerns about the deal.

Comcast wants to show that its own passage through the regulatory path can be swift, unlike that of the Fox bid for Sky that has stalled because of regulatory concerns over the Murdoch family’s control of UK newspapers, including The Times and The Sun, alongside Sky News.

The deadline on any decision is 14 June.