Fox’s final chapter in battle with Comcast

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) has triggered a 46 day deadline to raise its bid for Sky (SKYB.L) in a battle with Comcast CMCSA.L for control of the British pay-TV group.

Under British takeover rules, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox now has until Sept. 22 to trump Comcast’s 14.75 pound per share offer for Sky, which values the broadcaster 25.9 billion pounds ($33 billion), after it formalized its own 14 pounds per share bid.

Comcast gatecrashed Fox’s attempt to buy the 61 percent of Sky that it does not already own earlier this year and the US cable giant’s latest, higher offer, which it submitted in July, has been recommended to shareholders by the broadcaster’s independent directors.

Fox posted its formal offer document, without improving its price, on Tuesday, setting in motion a timetable to end the uncertainty over Sky’s future by triggering a 46-day period during which both Fox and Comcast can lift their offers.

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