"Tanks On Their Lawn": Comcast Challenges Fox With $31 Billion Bid For Sky

US cable-and-content behemoth Comcast issued a brazen challenge to News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch by offering a 22 billion pound ($31 billion) cash bid to buy Sky, challenging Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox - which is trying to buy the 61% of the company that it doesn't already own - and Walt Disney, which recently purchased nearly all of the entertainment assets once owned by the Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox.

Comcast's bid comes out to GBP12.5 per share in cash for the UK broadcaster, a 16% premium to the GBP10.75 per share that Fox recently agreed to.

Sky shares soared nearly 20% on the news.

As Reuters points out, Sky services 23 million homes across Europe and is known for its technological innovation. Murdoch has been trying to gain 100% control of the company, but has been stymied by British regulators, who have raised concerns about his stewardship stemming from the News of the World phone-hacking scandal and his already vast influence over UK media. Murdoch already owns several of the UK's most widely circulated print publications, as well as his 39% stake in Sky, According to Reuters.

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