With $39 Billion Bid, Comcast Beats Out Fox in Auction for Control of Sky

Both companies had been pursuing 61% stake in the European media giant

Twenty-one months after 21st Century Fox first began trying to buy the remaining 61 percent stake in European media giant Sky that it didn’t already own, the company has lost an auction with Comcast for control of Sky.

Comcast came out on top with a $39 billion bid, easily besting Fox’s $32 billion offer. Fox first bid for the remaining 61 percent of Sky in December 2016.

The weekend auction, which was run by the U.K. Takeover Panel, was the first of its kind in a decade.

UPDATE: Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts released this statement Saturday afternoon about the auction: “This is a great day for Comcast.

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