Sky’s European merger to start in coming days
BSKYB is expected to announce a multi-billion pound deal tomorrow to take over its sister companies in Italy and Germany, creating a new pay-TV empire in Europe.
The so-called Sky Europe deal will see BSkyB, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia combined to create one of Europe’s largest pay-TV operators, with over 19m subscribers across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria. The announcement is likely to come alongside BSkyB’s full year results tomorrow, according to The Financial Times.
While BSkyB could unlock synergies of up to £380m from the takeover, better compete for pan-European sporting rights and unlock a new growth story in Germany, analysts remain sceptical.
“We are not convinced that this would be a positive development for BSkyB shareholders given… at a time when it is pursuing a broad range of growth opportunities in the UK and confronting its first major content competitor in the form of BT,” said Westhouse analyst Roddy Davidson.
• The Labour party is considering plans to impose a levy on Premier League football rights and sports betting, to ensure the industry contributes more.