BSkyB climbs amid deal speculation - market reports
Shares in BSkyB, the UK-based listed satellite TV broadcaster, rose on 14 January amid chatter about potential M&A deals, the Daily Mail reported. UBS, an adviser to BSkyB, suggested a number of possible takeover transactions, thus increasing speculation, the report said.
UBS suggested Sky’s 39% shareholder 21st Century Fox Group - owned by Rupert Murdoch - might try and merge the business with its existing Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland pay-TV operations, the Daily Telegraph said. It added that the analysts said, alternatively, BSkyB might tie up with a mobile-phone company such as O2 or Vodafone to increase its financial strength against competitors.
The Financial Times, which also noted the deal speculation, said that UBS is one of Vodafone’s joint house brokers and formerly advised Murdoch-owned News Corp on a 2011 bid to buy out Sky.
The listed British telecoms group BT has also recently been tipped as a potential buyer of BSkyB, the Mail report said.
Source Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times