I guess in a takeover scenario, there are two separate...

I guess in a takeover scenario, there are two separate issues.

The first is what the business is fundamentally worth as a going concern, given the huge catalogue of rights held and the company still generates solid underlying earnings etc.

The second (and more important in a practical sense) is, regardless of intrinsic value, how much would shareholders accept? With the SP being at sustained record lows, even the staunchest supporters will feel their faith tested at times.

To take Sky TV private, my view is that someone would realistically need to offer somewhere in the range of $1.50 - $2.00 per share. If someone else started bidding too (like CVC Partners - who have entered the sports arena too with premier league and are rumoured to be about to purchase 13% of Six Nations...) then clearly we would get to the top of that range or beyond.

Both DAZN and CVC Partners could benefit in a huge way by purchasing Sky. Sky have the most important rights, great relationships, fantastic management...and RugbyPass which is becoming increasingly important as new players create their own global OTT offerings. I remember there was a mixed bag of news stories at the time Sky purchased RugbyPass. Questions arose as to whether the US$40M paid (funding the issue in part with a rights issue to the previous RP owners...) was smart given existing shareholders holdings were diluted etc. Well, recent events show just how shrewd and timely this deal was!

I am still very bullish on Sky's future prospects and enjoy being able to continue buying at low prices. But I also recognise that Sky TV does come under much more scrutiny that the likes of Foxtel due to being a listed company. The increased scrutiny has created a distracting environment for Sky I think - some of the criticisms have been fair, a lot have not.

So in many ways there would be a lot of advantages to the company if they were taken private. It would allow them to get on with the great work they have been doing without having to deal with a vast array of shareholders and constant media commentary every time they release a financial statement.

The low market cap even forced them to go to a shareholder vote to secure the SANZAAR rights! Just an annoyance for management that would vanish overnight.