21st Century Fox To Combine European Satellite Television Holdings - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - 21st Century Century Fox (FOXA, FOX) said it would transfer Sky Italia and its 57.4 percent stake in Sky Deutschland AG (SKDTF.PK, SKDTY.PK) to British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc or BSkyB (BSY.L, BSYBY.PK) to create a pan-European digital television leader through the combination of these assets.

In return, 21st Century Fox would receive nearly $9.3 billion in value from BSkyB, including about $8.6 billion cash and BSkyB's 21 percent interest in National Geographic Channels International, raising 21st Century Fox's stake to 73 percent. Further, 21st Century Fox would participate in BSkyB's announced equity offering by buying nearly $900 million of additional shares in BSkyB to maintain the firm's 39.1 percent shareholding. Upon completion of all the elements of this transaction, the net, after-tax cash proceeds to be received by 21st Century Fox would total about $7.2 billion.

"Our renewed authorization for our share buyback program will be executed regardless of any potential acquisition or investment activity by the Company," said Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox. "21st Century Fox's number one priority is increasing shareholder value in a disciplined manner and, as a result, we will only consider transactions that fully support this objective."