BSkyB has completed its acquisition of Sky Italia and a majority interest in Sky Deutschland, saying that it has created Europe’s leading entertainment company. To reflect the new international scope of the business, the company will now change its name to Sky.
As group CEO, Jeremy Darroch will oversee the enlarged group as well as continuing to lead the UK and Ireland business while Andrew Griffith will be group CFO. Andrea Zappia will continue to lead the business in Italy as CEO of Sky Italia and Brian Sullivan remains CEO of Sky Deutschland AG.
Completion of the deal follows unconditional clearances from the EU and German media authorities (Display Monitor Vol 21 Nos 37 & 41), as well as strong independent shareholder support for the transaction and the successful issuance of £5.8 billion ($9 billion) in debt and equity transaction financing on attractive terms. The enlarged group will serve 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland and will have a combined programme spend of £4.6 billion ($7.2 billion).
