UK Edition
21st Century Fox expects Sky deal to get green light by end of year
Murdoch-owned 21st Century Fox said it is confident that its proposed £11.7bn merger with Sky will receive approval by the end of 2017.
Fox, which is controlled by the Murdoch empire, already owns 39pc of Sky, but is hoping to gain full control.
The deal got the green light from the European Commission last month, with the anti-trust watchdog saying the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe.
However, both Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK still need to give their approval for the deal to progress.
The UK media regulator, Ofcom, this week met one of the women alleging that former Fox News presenter Bill O’Reilly sexually harrassed her, as part of its assessment whether Fox and its chief executive James Murdoch are “fit and proper” to hold a UK broadcasting licence.
Ofcom had been expected to advise ministers on the impact of full Murdoch ownership of Sky by May 16, but this deadline was then pushed back to June 20 given the "proximity" of the decision to the UK general election.
Speaking about the deal on Wednesday evening, Fox executive chairmen Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch said in a joint statement: "Our proposed combination with Sky, which was recently approved unconditionally by the European Commission, will advance another of our strategic priorities, driving innovation for customers."
"We remain confident the proposed transaction will be approved by the end of the calendar year following a thorough review process," the pair added.
The comments came as Fox said its revenue grew 5pc year on year to $7.56bn (£5.84bn) for the three months to the end of March, partly thanks to increased advertising revenue from its Television unit and its broadcast of this year's Super Bowl LI.
Net income, though, dipped to $870m from $925m a year earlier, due to the effects of an impairment as well as restructuring charges.