British regulators said Comcast Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. will settle their takeover battle for Sky via an auction starting Friday, setting up a dramatic climax to a 21-month sale process that has pitted some of the world’s biggest media and entertainment giants against each other.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.K. Takeover Panel said Thursday the auction would consist of a maximum three rounds of bidding, starting Friday and ending Saturday. The winning offer would be announced Saturday, the British regulator said.
Auctions are unusual for corporate deal making, and extremely rare for settling a takeover of a public company the size of Sky. The British broadcaster has a market capitalization of more than $35 billion, and a successful bid could likely top that.
The auction pits Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, which already owns 39% of Sky, against Comcast. The Walt Disney Co. has separately agreed to buy a big chunk of Fox, including its Sky stake. That puts Disney and Fox on the same team in the weekend auction.
Regulators resorted to the auction after Fox and Comcast kept one-upping each other’s bids for Sky. Comcast made the most recent offer in July, for $19.41 a share, valuing Sky at $34 billion. That is above Fox’s current bid, also made in July.
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