Investors press Murdoch to dig deeper in £18bn Sky takeover

SKY shareholders ratcheted up the pressure on the broadcaster’s board to get a higher price from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox today amid fears the billionaire tycoon will buy the company on the cheap.

One of the City’s most influential investors, Standard Life, joined a chorus of investors calling for Sky’s deputy chairman Martin Gilbert to push Murdoch to increase the £10.75-a-share, or £18.5 billion, cash bid on the table.

Murdoch’s Fox owns 39% of Sky and his son James is Sky chairman, leading to concerns the mogul’s web of influence has led to a low-ball offer. A previous attempt to take over Sky was derailed in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

“There’s quite heavy representation of people who are connected with Rupert Murdoch, not just James Murdoch,” Standard Life’s Thomas Moore told the BBC. “We hope that Martin Gilbert will step up and put forward a strong case that this bid undervalues the true value of the company.”

Gilbert, known as a robust negotiator as chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, is leading an eight-strong team of independent Sky board members, which includes Standard Chartered’s Tracy Clarke and Lazard’s M&A chief Matthieu Pigasse.

The team has accepted the £10.75 offer in principle after driving Fox up from an original offer of about £10 per share. Shares traded at £7.58 before the talks.

Investors Royal London Asset Management and Jupiter Asset Management broke cover over the weekend to criticise the deal due to fears over the independence of Sky’s negotiating team and the price.

Despite the protests City investors and analysts say it will be hard to drive an offer above £10.75.

Crispin Odey, who as head of Odey Asset Management owns a big Sky stake, said: “It would be very nice to get them to bid it up but I don’t think they will pay more than that.” Odey was once married to Murdoch’s eldest daughter Prudence.

“I can’t see Fox coming back with a substantially higher bid,” said Liberum media analyst Ian Whittaker. “If Fox withdraws the share price is straight down. There may be a couple of grumbles but I can’t see it going higher.”