The emotionally charged battle between Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB and Richard Branson and Virgin Media is still alive as Virgin and its bankers are readying plans to approach ITV about an offer if BSkyB is forced to divest of its stake.
It all came about when Branson make it known that he was interested in buying ITV. In response, Murdoch's son James, Sky's CEO made a move and bought a 17.8 percent stake in ITV, which basically blocked the potential buyout by Branson and Virgin.
That's when everything hit the fan. Now it's being decided whether they're going to allow the BSkyB stake in ITV to stand. They paid $1.8 billion for the stake.
If Sky is ruled against, Virgin would be able to get back and renew the negotiations. The battle is all about content that ITV owns and which would tilt the table toward Virgin if they are able to land the deal.
James Murdoch has claimed that their move was related to a long-term strategy that they planned on implementing. That's considered somewhat disingenuous by most as it's pretty much known that it was a move to keep Virgin from being able to make the bid for ITV.
Virgin and Sky directly compete in the broadband, fixed-line telephony and broadband markets in Britain.
» Britain's "Competition Commission" Rules against BSkyB Stake in ITV from BizofShowBiz
The British Competition Commission concluded in its four-month study tha BSkyB's acquistion of a 17.9 percent stake in ITV would diminish competition and wasn't in the public interest.The commission said in a statement: "The CC has conclud... [Read More]
Tracked on: October 2, 2007 6:58 PM | Permalink to Trackback