21^st Century Fox: BSkyB acquires sister companies Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia for at least €6.8m

BSkyB, the British pay-TV group, announced on 25/07/2014 that it had come to an agreement to buy American media group 21^st Century Fox's shares in Italian pay-TV group Sky Italia (100%) and in its German sister companies Sky Deutschland (57.4%). BSkyB also belongs to 21^st Century Fox at a level of 39.14%.

The acquisition of Sky Italia, estimated at £2.45bn (€3.31bn), is financed through £2.07bn (€2.6bn) in cash; BSkyB is also transferring 21% ownership of its National Geographic Channel International-themed channels to 21^st Century Fox, worth £382m (€482m). The National Geographic channels belong to FIC (Fox International Channels), which is owned by 21^st Century Fox.

The acquisition of 57.4% of Sky Deutschland will take the form of a takeover bid (tender offer) fixed at €6.75 per share, which puts the transaction at approximately €3.7bn. The minimum cost of the acquisition of the German and Italian sister companies is, for BSkyB, €6.8bn. It could reach €8.8bn if Sky Deutschland's minority shareholders decide to sell their shares to BSkyB.

The two transactions are subject to the…