Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has kicked off a potential bidding war with US entertainment giant Comcast after making a new offer for the 61pc of Sky it does not already own that values the UK-based broadcaster at £24.5bn.
The £14 per share offer is 12pc higher than the £12.50 offered by Comcast in April and 82pc higher than the stock’s value before Fox made its first offer in November 2016.
Fox’s takeover plan is expected to receive formal approval from the UK authorities this week after more than 18 months of investigations.
The new offer has the backing of Sky’s independent committee of directors, which withdrew its support for Fox’s previous bid after Comcast made its approach. Comcast has until the end of this week to make a new offer.