--Negotiating deals with Sky will become more difficult as the bidding war for the European broadcaster intensifies, said Publicis Chairman Maurice Levy, according to marketing and media news website The Drum.

--On Tuesday, U.S. cable company Comcast presented a $31 billion bid for Sky, which was a surprise, reports The Drum, given than 21st Century Fox had agreed to pay $25.8 billion for the 61% stake in Sky it doesn't already own.

--"The Murdoch family" will be the only beneficiaries regardless of the outcome, Mr. Levy said Wednesday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and advertisers should prepare for tough negotiations, reports The Drum.

--Mr. Levy also said "whoever acquires Sky, at the end of the day, it will not be an independent [company]," and "the player will be bigger, the stake will be bigger and the ability to negotiate will be harder," The Drum reports.

Full story: http://bit.ly/2FIqEbm

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 01, 2018 05:14 ET (10:14 GMT)

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