euro news_news 26/11/2014 19:37 Page 1
BSkyB completes acquisitions
and renames as Sky
SkyB has completed
its takeover of Sky
Italia and Sky
Deutschland and is
changing its name to Sky, in
place of British Sky
Broadcasting (BSkyB) in
recognition of the
international scope of the
business.
The company has acquired
89.71% of the share capital of
Sky Deutschland and all of Sky
Italia was for a total of £2.45
billion (€3.09bn), satisfied by
£2.07 billion in cash and the
balance through the transfer to
21st Century Fox (owner of Sky
Italia) of BSkyB’s 21% stake in
National Geographic Channel
International.
The acquisition of 87.45% of
Sky Deutschland through the
offer process was for a total of
€5.6 billion (representing €6.75
per share).
Completion follows
unconditional clearances from
the EU and national media
authorities and strong
shareholder support for the
transaction with 96% voting in
favour; and the successful
issuance of £5.8 billion in debt
and equity transaction
financing.
The enlarged group will serve
20m customers across five
countries: Italy, Germany,
Austria, the UK and Ireland. It
will also be one of the largest
employers in the sector with
31,000 staff across 30 main
sites.
With a combined programme
spend of £4.6 billion, Sky says it
is Europe’s leading investor in
CDN provider Tata
Communications has
become the first company
to deliver a live 4K feed
from a Formula 1 event.
This landmark was achieved
during the first practice
session at the 2014 Formula
1 Singapore Airlines
Singapore Grand Prix, where
live footage was delivered
end-to-end over Tata
Communications' Global
Video Connect Network, to
Formula One Management's
(FOM) Technical HQ in
Biggin Hill, UK. The live
delivery highlighted the
next generation 4K
broadcast capabilities
afforded by fibre-optic
cable, as well as illustrating
how the future of 4K sports
broadcasting could look.
Mehul Kapadia, MD F1
Business, Tata
Communications, said the
transmission was another
milestone in its journey
with Formula One
Management and showed
the real potential of sports
broadcasting over our Video
Connect Network, as well as
the quality and speed by
which it can be delivered."
B
television content and at the
forefront of delivering services
over broadcast, online and
mobile platforms so that
customers can enjoy great TV
whenever and wherever they
choose.
By bringing together the
three businesses, Sky believes it
will share strengths and
expertise from across the group
to serve customers better,
accelerate innovation and grow
faster. The new Sky will be built
on a shared ethos of always
pushing forward to provide
customers with more choice,
better content and a superior TV
experience.
According to Sky, the
potential for future growth is
significant. Over 60m
households have yet to take payTV across the five markets in
which it operates and there is
also substantial opportunity to
launch new services and bring
additional products to more
customers.
As group chief executive,
Jeremy Darroch (above) will
Typically, Tata
Communications provides
120 megabits per second
(Mbps) for JPEG 2000.
During the Biggin Hill
showcase, Tata
Communications provided
500 Mbps for a single feed,
a capability that was only
made possible thanks to
4K F1feed from Tata Communications
6 EUROMEDIA
oversee the enlarged group as
well as continuing to lead the
UK and Ireland business while
Andrew Griffith will be group
chief financial officer. Andrea
Zappia will continue to lead the
business in Italy as chief
executive of Sky Italia and Brian
Sullivan remains chief executive
of Sky Deutschland.
Darroch said the three Sky
businesses would be “even
better” together. “We have the
opportunity to create a business
that can lead and shape our
industry in the future.
Customers will benefit as we
launch exciting new services,
bring them even more great TV
and accelerate innovation across
all of the markets in which we
operate. By joining together, we
will share our strengths and
expertise while retaining a
strong identity in each country
where we operate. The
opportunity ahead is substantial
and we believe the new Sky will
be good for customers, content
creators and shareholders alike,”
he stated.
the company's global Video
Connect network, delivering
video and converged IP
services seamlessly for high
quality sports events.
John Morrison, Formula
One Management's CTO,
said that 4K was an
"exciting" new technology
which could have great
potential when it comes to
sports broadcasting. "We
are focused on giving F1
fans the best possible
experience, which is why we
are pleased to be
supporting Tata
Communications in bringing
4K closer to reality," he
added.