BSkyB Rebrands as Sky Following Completed Italian, German Acquisitions

LONDON: Following its successful acquisition of Sky Italia and a majority interest in Sky Deutschland, BSkyB will now simply be known as Sky, touting itself as "Europe's leading entertainment company."

The enlarged operations will serve 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the U.K. and Ireland. Its combined programming spend is £4.6 billion ($7.2 billion), making it Europe's leading investor in TV content.

As group chief executive, Jeremy Darroch will oversee the enlarged group as well as continuing to lead the U.K. and Ireland business, while Andrew Griffith will be group CFO. Andrea Zappia will continue to lead the business in Italy as chief executive of Sky Italia, and Brian Sullivan remains chief executive of Sky Deutschland.

Darroch said: “The three Sky businesses will be even better together. We have the opportunity to create a business that can lead and shape our industry in the future. Customers will benefit as we launch exciting new services, bring them even more great TV and accelerate innovation across all of the markets in which we operate.

“By joining together, we will share our strengths and expertise while retaining a strong identity in each country where we operate. The opportunity ahead is substantial and we believe the new Sky will be good for customers, content creators and shareholders alike.”