Rupert Murdoch ratcheted up the pressure on Britain to approve his $15 billion-plus bid for pay-TV group Sky by offering to sell or legally separate Sky News, aiming to head off objections the deal could give him too much political influence.
Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox said on Tuesday that Walt Disney Co. was interested in buying Sky News. Alternatively, Fox said, Sky News could be legally separated within the Sky group.
Even if Fox's proposals satisfy Britain's government and competition regulator, however, it may still need to raise its recommended offer for Sky after U.S. cable group Comcast Corp. said it intended to make a higher counterbid.
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