21st Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOX), owned by media giant Rupert Murdoch, has until Thursday night to increase its offer for Sky PLC (LON:SKY) if it wants to outbid rival Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA).
The deadline, enforced by takeover rules, means the media giant will have just days to trump Comcast’s £25.9bn bid for a 61% stake in the FTSE 100 pay-TV broadcaster that was submitted last month and backed by Sky’s board.
READ: UK Takeover Panel confirms Walt Disney would have to offer at least 1,400p a share to buy satellite TV broadcaster Sky
The development is the latest in a series of twists in what has been a struggle between three of the world’s largest media corporations, Fox, Comcast and Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS).
Comcast previously backed away from a separate pursuit of several entertainment assets that were put on sale by Fox, putting it into direct competition with Disney, while the House of Mouse has yet to decide whether it will join the fray for the 61% stake in Sky not already owned by Fox.
In mid-afternoon trading Tuesday, Sky shares were up 0.2% at 1,519p, a nearly 3% premium on Comcast’s latest bid price of 1,475p.