British Sky Broadcasting in talks to create pan-European pay TV giant: report

London: British pay-TV group, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) is in talks to buy 21st Century Fox's interests in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia to create a pan-European television giant, it said on Monday.

BSkyB, which is 39 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, said it had initiated preliminary discussions with the group to evaluate the potential acquisition of its pay-TV assets in Germany and Italy". It added in a statement: "BSkyB believes at the right value, this combination would have the potential to create a world-class multinational pay TV group."

In a separate statement, a 21st Century Fox spokesperson said that while the company has carried out numerous internal discussions regarding the organizational and ownership structure of the European Sky-branded satellite platforms, no agreement between the parties has ever been reached".