Fox's Lachlan Murdoch: We're 'Disappointed' by U.K. Regulator's Action on Sky
21st Century Fox (FOXA) - Get Report is playing a waiting game. And so far it's losing.
Fox Co-Chairman Lachlan Murdoch told investors Wednesday, Sept. 13 at a Goldman Sachs investor conference that despite a U.K. regulator's decision this week to study the transaction on the question of corporate conduct, the company remains confident it will win approval for its $15.5 billion (11.7 billion-pound) acquisition of the 61% stake in the European pay-TV company Sky Plc that it doesn't already own.
Murdoch said he expects the deal, which was announced in December, to ultimately close in mid-2018.
"We are disappointed that its taken six months to come to this point," Murdoch said. "We are very confident that we will get through the process."
Securing Sky, Murdoch said, is one of three top priorities for the company, along with reaching $1 billion in adjusted earnings by 2020 at Star TV, its pan-Asian pay-TV operator, and focusing on its five core TV brands: National Geographic, FX, Fox Sports, Fox News Channel and the Star television network.
Uncertainty as to whether U.K. regulators will ultimately approve the transaction has weighed on Fox's shares, which have dropped 7.6% this year, compared to the S&P 500's 12% gain over the same time period. Fox was rising 1.5% on Wednesday afternoon to $26.30 per share.
Murdoch's sanguine take on Sky came a day after U.K. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced that she is likely to ask the government's Competition and Markets Authority to expand its investigation, focusing on Fox's conduct as a broadcaster. Tuesday's announcement took the Murdochs by surprise, given that a previous statement from Bradley indicated that she would limit any investigation to Fox's influence over the media, rather than its broader corporate conduct.
The inquiry is likely to take a close look at whether Fox News Channel adheres to standards of impartiality, or instead plays partisan politics. In addition, the probe is expected to look at the string of sexual harassment cases that have prompted a string of high-profile resignations at the network.
While the Murdochs are best known in the U.S. for Fox News, the family's history in the U.K. goes back to the 1960s. Later, Lachlan's father Murdoch helped solidify the conservative premiership of Margaret Thatcher. In the U.K., the Murdochs own the Sun newspaper, the Times of London and talk radio stations in addition to a minority position in Sky.
U.K. regulators had previously said they were only concerned that the Sky deal would put too great a concentration of media power into the hands of one company.
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