Sky credit rating downgraded following £7bn takeover of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland November 13, 2014 Sky’s long-term corporate credit rating has been cut following the completion of its £7bn takeover of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland yesterday. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Sky’s credit rating from ‘BBB+’ to ‘BBB’ as it estimated the group would raise a “significant amount of debt to part-find the acquisitions”. The credit ratings agency [...]
BSkyB changes name to Sky as Europe deal for Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia is completed November 13, 2014 BSkyB is dropping “British” and “Broadcasting” from its name, to become just Sky as it announces the completion of a £7bn deal to acquire Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. The media company, which becomes one of the largest pay TV operators in Europe, said the name change reflected the new international scope of the business. Its [...]
Moody’s downgrades BSkyB due to debt doubling after Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia acquisition November 7, 2014 Moody’s has downgraded BSkyB’s rating after its Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia acquisition more than doubled its funded debt to £7bn. BSkyB moves from Baa1 to Baa2 with a stable outlook, it’s second lowest investment grade, after the broadcaster picked up a larger share of Sky Deutschland than first expected. It picked up an additional [...]
BSkyB buys up lion’s share of Sky Deutschland November 6, 2014 PAY TV broadcaster BSkyB will own a larger-than-expected 87.45 per cent of Sky Deutschland once its takeover closes next week. The Sky Europe deal – as it has been dubbed with BSkyB buying up its Italian and German counterparts – will create a media empire spanning six countries and reaching 20m customers. With the purchase, [...]
BSkyB share price falls after it secures 87.45 per cent of Sky Deutschland November 6, 2014 BSkyB will own 87.45 per cent of Sky Deutschland once its takeover is completed next week, it said this morning. A larger-than-expected proportion of minority shareholders in the German pay-TV company accepted an offer of €6.75 per share from the British company. The takeover is due to be completed on 12 November, and will [...]
BT scores key win in battle for Sky Sports November 5, 2014 Britain’s largest pay TV broadcaster BSkyB was left bruised yesterday after a UK court ruled that it must make its flagship sports channels available to its biggest rival, a measure it had resisted for four years. The interim ruling is the latest episode in a four-year legal saga stretching back to an era when Sky [...]
Sky gets down with the kids by backing Whistle Sports October 29, 2014 Sports TV giant Sky yesterday ramped up its drive to attract a younger audience by taking a stake in online channel Whistle Sports. Sky will invest $7m (£4.3m) in the venture, founded by serial entrepreneur and Harvard business graduate John West, and work with Whistle to develop new programmes and ideas. The channel, which is [...]
Sky Sports wins rights to biggest events in cricket October 13, 2014 Sky Sports has beaten off competition from other broadcasting rivals after winning the rights to show some of international cricket’s biggest events over the next eight years. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday it has sold the rights to 18 cricket tournaments to Star Group, which is also part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire [...]
BSkyB gains shareholder approval for Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia acquisition October 6, 2014 BSkyB shareholders have given an overwhelming nod of approval to its £5.3bn bid to buy Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. A 96 per cent majority of investors voted in favour of the deal which will see Sky become Europe’s largest pay TV operator. The vote included approval of transferring BSkyB's stake in National Geographic to 21st [...]
$5m Sharethrough investment sees Sky target ad opportunity September 30, 2014 HUGE FTSE 100 media firm BSkyB revealed yesterday it had made a $5m (£3.1m) equity investment in Sharethrough, a San Francisco based online advertising technology company. The investment from BSkyB was part of a round of fundraising that raised $10m for Sharethrough, which provides native advertising services, that match ad campaigns to web pages. As [...]