BSkyB looks to “create a world-class multinational pay TV group” with planned acquisitions in Germany and Italy
BSkyB has admitted that it has initiated preliminary discussions with 21st Century Fox for acquisition of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia.
The majority of the German and Italian Sky channels are owned by 21st Century Fox, but BSkyB has revealed that “at the right value, this combination would have the potential to create a world-class multinational pay TV group.”
The announcement from BSkyB comes on the same day as the company signed a deal with Virgin Media, which will see more Sky channels provided for Virgin customers.
BSkyB said in a statement: “These discussions have not progressed beyond a preliminary stage, no agreement has been reached on terms, value or transaction structure and there is no certainty that a transaction will occur.”
Any potential agreement would be subject to external factors including the Sky Deutschland share price continuing to trade on an undisturbed basis.