MURDOCH SEEKS TO ACQUIRE ALL OF BRITAIN’S BSKYB

The board of directors of the British satellite-TV provider BSkyB has rejected an $11.5-billion offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to buy the 61 percent of the company that News Corp doesn’t already own. It appeared to urge Murdoch to up his bid by at least 15 percent. News of the offer was leaked to the press in New Delhi and New York on Monday. For its part, News Corp said, “News Corp and the BSkyB independent directors have been unable to reach a mutually agreeable price at the current time. … However, both parties have agreed to work together to proceed with the regulatory process in order to facilitate a proposed transaction.” On the BBC morning program Today, a news reader said that James Murdoch, who heads BSkyB, and his father “were shocked by the extent of the opposition they met from an organization they believe works pretty closely to them.” News of the offer sent BSkyB shares soaring. They closed up 18.5 percent after analysts predicted that News Corp would raise its offer.