By Monica Houston-Waesch
Sky Deutschland AG's supervisory and executive boards have
advised minority shareholders not to accept a takeover offer by
British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, saying the offer "doesn't
reflect the long-term potential nor the internal value" of the
company.
BSkyB said in July that it would buy 21st Century Fox's 57.4%
stake in the German operator for GBP2.9 billion ($4.72 billion) in
cash, or EUR6.75 ($8.75) a share, and offered the same amount to
the company's remaining minority shareholders.
The U.K. company's Chief Financial Officer Andrew Griffith said
when announcing the acquisition that it was "neutral" about buying
out Sky Deutschland's minority holders and would be content with
owning 57% of the German company. BSkyB couldn't immediately be
reached for comment on Wednesday.
Sky Deutschland's board and minority shareholders were unlikely
to accept BSkyB's offer because it didn't represent a big enough
premium to the price shares were trading at before the U.K.-based
company announced its intentions.
The deal is part of a broader move by BSkyB to build a
pan-European pay-TV giant, which also involves buying Fox's 100%
stake in Italian TV company Sky Italia for GBP2.45 billion.
Both transactions were recently approved by the European
Union.
On issuing its recommendation to minority holders on Wednesday,
Sky Deutschland said its Chief Executive Brian Sullivan, the only
executive board member holding shares, wouldn't participate in the
offer, which runs until Oct. 15.
Two supervisory board members holding shares also don't intend
to accept the offer, the company said in a statement.
Simon Zekaria contributed to this article.
Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at nikki.houston@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
BSkyB said in July it would buy Fox's stake in Sky Deutschland.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the acquisition
was announced in May. The acquisition values the German company at
EUR6.75 a share. An earlier version of this article incorrectly
said the deal values the group at GBP6.75.
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