Broadcasting

Britain’s Disney M&A ruling is a bit Mickey Mouse

16 Aug 2018

The Takeover Panel, generally a sound custodian of UK bid rules, is keeping the Magic Kingdom’s minimum buyout price for Sky at 14 pounds per share. Nudging it higher, in line with Disney’s Fox bid, would have set a better precedent for similar deals in the future.

#MeToo is only one of CBS’s Les Moonves problems

30 Jul 2018

The media group is investigating its CEO over sexual-harassment accusations. Even without that, he was a risk. CBS has an entrenched board, is fighting unhelpfully with controlling owner Shari Redstone and faces a tricky industry-wide transition. Moonves is no longer an asset.

Disney can still play hardball with Comcast on Sky

26 Jul 2018

Shares in the UK pay-TV group have sunk since Comcast ceded Fox to the House of Mouse. Investors may think that means Magic Kingdom boss Bob Iger will not bid for Sky, which Comcast also wants. He would be missing out on a prize business, or a cheap opportunity to hurt a rival.

ITV may need more than fine-tuning

25 Jul 2018

CEO Carolyn McCall wants to improve its clunky online service. Cost cuts and extra revenue will offset higher investments, soothing fears of lower dividends. If advertising revenue collapses and viewers switch over, she could have to contemplate lower payouts and M&A.

UK takes space leap as it leaves EU orbit

20 Jul 2018

Exiting the European Union has cast a cloud over Britain’s membership of the Galileo satellite-navigation project. Going it alone could leave the government with a big bill. Building Europe’s first launch pad, though, taps into strong demand for new commercial satellites.

Comcast’s second loss to Disney is a victory

19 Jul 2018

Boss Brian Roberts decided not to top rival Bob Iger’s $71 bln bid for Fox assets, instead focusing on buying Sky. In 2004, Comcast also backed down after trying to buy the Mouse House. Given the eye-watering price Disney is paying, Roberts and his shareholders are the winners.

Univision broadcasts a warning to today’s buyouts

11 Jul 2018

The Spanish language TV company is trying sell websites it bought two years ago. The Onion – no joke – was never a fit. Neither was a massive debt load imposed 11 years ago when five private owners bought it. With lenders now looser than ever, private equity risks painful reruns.

Fox’s toppy Sky bid is just a new price floor

11 Jul 2018

Rupert Murdoch’s group is bidding 14 pounds a share for the UK group’s equity it doesn’t own, valuing Sky at 24.5 bln pounds. Yet a ruling by Britain’s Takeover Panel may push that even higher, while rival bidder Comcast can hit back. Sky investors may be far from peak altitude.

Elliott may beat Juventus in returns shoot-out

11 Jul 2018

Paul Singer’s hedge fund has taken control of Italian soccer team AC Milan, while rival Juventus has bought goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo for 100 mln euros. Neither looks an easy financial score. But Elliott’s bargain price and Milan’s scope to improve combine for better odds.

New Fox bid would take Sky into crazy territory

10 Jul 2018

Rupert Murdoch’s group may launch a 25 bln pound offer for the UK pay-TV group this week, the FT reports. The mooted price is close to the level Britain’s Takeover Panel may require, but is too high for a buyer to make a decent return. That’s mostly a problem for Fox suitor Disney.

European TV can only dream of rivalling Netflix

5 Jul 2018

Broadcasters like ProSieben, ITV and Mediaset are losing viewers to streaming services and ad dollars to Google and Facebook. Together they could invest more efficiently in technology, but Europe’s fragmented market makes content hard to share. They look doomed to steady decline.

UK’s M&A referee owes Sky investors a late winner

5 Jul 2018

Disney’s sweetened offer for Fox does not extend to the UK pay-TV group’s other shareholders. Britain’s Takeover Panel could fix that by requiring the Magic Kingdom to pay up if its takeover of Rupert Murdoch’s empire succeeds. Unusual circumstances justify the intervention.

Disney-Fox-Sky puts UK M&A regulators in a bind

27 Jun 2018

After the Mickey Mouse owner boosted its offer for Rupert Murdoch’s group, Sky investors reckon they’re due a bump. UK regulators’ keenness to protect minority investors implies it should agree. But doing so will also put it in the odd position of adding fuel to an already red hot bidding war.

Endemol’s $4 bln sale needs “Love Island” glitter

27 Jun 2018

Rampant media M&A makes it a good time for the production company’s owners, Fox and Apollo, to sell. Potential buyers may balk at loss-making Endemol Shine’s debt and reliance on tired reality TV formats. That’s unless ITV’s matchmaking hit shows the off-trend genre has legs.

European TV ends self-destructive soccer splurge

26 Jun 2018

The financial balance of power is shifting from clubs to groups like Sky, Telefonica and Canal Plus. The sport gets less money. But halting rights inflation gives telecom companies cash to invest in mobile networks while media groups can better compete with Netflix and Amazon.

Viewsroom: Disney, Comcast go from zero to berserk

21 Jun 2018

The Magic Kingdom and the cable company are driving up the price for parts of Twenty-First Century Fox in a global M&A battle that throws financial logic out the window. But does it make sense strategically? Plus: India’s cricket league takes a few pages from the NFL playbook.

Fox M&A battle could favour Sky investors

14 Jun 2018

Comcast’s $65 bln offer for Rupert Murdoch’s group raises the stakes in the battle for the UK broadcaster. Even if the U.S. cable giant snags Fox, rival Walt Disney might pursue Sky to avoid coming away empty-handed. The risk for shareholders is that the bidders strike a truce.

Amazon’s softly-softly UK soccer move is smart

7 Jun 2018

The e-commerce group made its first foray into UK football rights. But it won’t screen as many games as Sky and BT. The restraint means the group run by Jeff Bezos should easily break even, and suggests it’s more interested in scoring tactical goals than tackling rivals head-on.

UK nod gives Sky suitors licence to overpay

5 Jun 2018

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox can buy the 61 pct it doesn’t own of the pay-TV group if it sells Sky News to Disney, Britain’s media secretary said. A rival Sky bid by Comcast was also cleared. That’s good news for Sky investors, who may now receive toppy bids from the U.S. media giants.

Vivendi’s soccer loss may be winning tactic

30 May 2018

Chinese-owned Mediapro beat the media conglomerate’s pay-TV group Canal Plus in a 1.2 bln euro auction for rights to show France’s top matches. The winner is taking a gamble since the value of those rights leapt 60 percent. Vivendi avoided overpaying and can withstand the loss.