Newscorp's bid for Sky snubbed

BSkyB said today that it had rebuffed an initial attempt by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to take full control of the UK satellite broadcaster.

The 700p-a-share approach for the 61% of BSkyB that NewsCorp does not currently own values the FTSE 100 Index company at around £12bn (€14.5bn).

BSkyB said the proposal significantly undervalued the business and called for an offer in excess of 800p a share, in part to compensate shareholders for the wait they would face while regulatory clearance was sought.

NewsCorp’s interests include The Times and The Sun newspapers in the UK and the Wall Street Journal in America.