News Corp (NWS) withdrew its bid to acquire the remainder of British Sky Broadcasting (BSY) on Wednesday morning, following the public outrage over the behaviour of its British newspapers. Not only does the depth of the phone-hacking scandal at News of the World continue to increase, but now allegations of unethical and potentially criminal behaviour have been levelled at some of News Corp's other papers. Due to this maelstrom of discontent, U.K. culture secretary Jeremy Hunt referred the bid to the competition commission late Monday and said not only should the commission look at "media plurality" issues, but also at whether News Corp is a "fit and proper" media owner. Speculation is now swirling around the future of News Corp's existing stake in BSkyB, with suggestions that the firm may have to sell down its position entirely. Ofcom, the telecom and media regulator, similarly required BSkyB to sell part of its stake in ITV in 2010.
While we had expected the deal ultimately to be approved, we can see why it made sense, for political reasons, for News Corp to withdraw its bid at this time. However, as the current furore fades into the past, we wouldn't be surprised to see News Corp return with another bid. News Corp still wants full access to BSkyB's growing free cash flow and it has a large pile of cash to deploy. Despite all of this drama over the dropped bid, BSkyB's fundamentals remain unchanged. Despite all this drama over the dropped bid, BSkyB's fundamentals remain unchanged.
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