Murdoch Sky Bid On - OFFICIAL

What did I tell you? Back in June, Zelo Street told readers that, after the abortive Time Warner takeover attempt, “the company was in good enough shape to buy back around $6 billion of its own shares. The Murdoch empire, given continuing sound financial health, should have no problem ponying up 61% of the value of Sky, which has a market capitalisation of around £18.6 billion”. Might there be a problem?

That's what I bladdy think of youse bladdy media bladdy plurality ideals, youse bladdy Pommie drongoes!

“To do so, Rupe and his pals would need to get a bid past the Government and the competition watchdog - but the latter did not have a problem last time round. And the Government is now a majority Tory one”. Soon after I posted that, Alex Spence at Politico told “Enders Analysis, a respected media consultancy, gave intellectual weight to the question Wednesday, asserting in a research note that it was a question of ‘when, not if’ Murdoch has another shot at buying the 61 percent of Sky that he doesn’t already own”.

Offers for the Murdochs’ 39% Sky stake had been made - “There have been two recent offers made for that 39%, one from Vodafone and the latest from Vivendi, which owns French pay-TV operator Canal+”. Both foundered, possibly because of the 73% share premium demanded by Rupe and his pals, which may have denoted an extreme reluctance to sell. And now Murdoch Junior has confirmed this.

As the deeply subversive Guardian has told today, “James Murdoch reveals Fox planning new bid for full control of Sky … 21st Century Fox chief executive claims not having complete control of pan-European pay-TV broadcaster is ‘not an end state that is natural for us’”. That means unfinished business - which the Murdochs intend to finish.

Junior’s assertion was that “The Sky businesses, we’ve only just brought them all together into one big European platform … That integration is going really well. The company is moving at a very fast pace and has grown in value enormously. We’ve also been clear that over time, having 40% of an unconsolidated asset is not an end state that is natural for us”. Moreover, brother Lachlan says they won’t be trying again for Time Warner.

He claimed in his latest interview that “We’ve moved on from Time Warner … There was a point in time [when] it was a great opportunity, frankly, for both sets of shareholders, but we’ve moved on”. So, as I suggested in June, the Murdoch empire, now trading under the rather more grand titles of 21st Century Fox, will be looking for Young Dave and his jolly good chaps to wave the bid through and let them take 100% control of Sky.

With Murdoch’s support, there is always a quid pro quo. So the Tories got slavish coverage from the Sun and Times titles, and continue to do so. Now they have to deliver their side of the bargain - and make sure those pesky EU types don’t say boo. What future concessions might they want to wind out of Cameron and Co? Well, helping them keep their iron grip on all those cash generating sporting events would be a starter.

You don’t get Rupe’s support for nothing. And he’ll keep coming back for more.