Hedge fund Elliott Management buys stake in UK pay-TV group Sky
(Reuters) - Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, founded by Paul Singer, has built a stake in Sky Plc (SKYB.L), according to a regulatory filing published on Friday.
The fund's subsidiary, Elliott Capital Advisors, announced a 1.09 percent interest in Sky through a derivatives stake, following the European pay-TV group reporting a 10 percent rise in its first-half earnings.
Elliott did not say whether the Sky position was an active or passive one, when contacted by Reuters.
The investment comes ahead of Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) buying Twenty-first Century Fox's (FOXA.O) 39 percent Sky stake in its $52.4 billion purchase of Fox assets, a deal that faces its own lengthy regulatory process in the United States.
Earlier this month, Elliott disclosed a 1.7 percent stake in British engineering company GKN Plc (GKN.L) and a short position in GKN's suitor Melrose Industries Plc (MRON.L).
Sky, whose customer base rose by 365,000 in first-half earnings to 22.9 million, reported revenue of 6.7 billion pounds for the six months to the end of December.
(Reporting by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru, editing by David Evans)
