British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc.(BSYBY.PK, BSY.L) on Thursday said it has completed the acquisition of Sky Italia and a majority stake in Sky Deutschland.
Earlier in September, British Sky had announced its decision to buy 21st Century Fox's (FOXA, FOX) 100 percent stake in Sky Italia and its 57.4 percent interest in Sky Deutschland (SKDTF.PK, SKDTY.PK) in nearly $9.3 billion deal.
Through this acquisition, British Skya aims to create Europe's leading entertainment company. The combined group, catering to 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland, will be one of the largest employers in the sector with 31,000 staff across 30 main sites.
The company sees good potential for future growth, as more than 60 million households are yet to take pay TV across the five markets in which Sky operates.
As a part of this transition, the group has also proposed to change its name to Sky, from British Sky Broadcasting at the AGM on November 21. The company will be listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol SKY.
Group Chief Executive, Jeremy Darroch will oversee the expanded group as well as would continue to lead the UK and Ireland business, while Andrew Griffith will be Group Chief Financial Officer. Andrea Zappia will remain as the Chief Executive of Sky Italia and Brian Sullivan would continue as CEO of Sky Deutschland.
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