The Supervisory Board and Executive Boards of Sky Deutschland are recommending that shareholders reject the take-over offer from BSkyB.

Their statement says the offer of €6.75 per share “does not reflect the long-term potential” of the company. The executive board confirmed CEO Brian Sullivan, a former BSkyB staffer and only executive shareholder in Sky Deutschland, would not participate in the current offer which runs until October 15^th. The bid was approved by the European Union last week.

The rejection echoes the position of the minority – but significant – shareholders who have said that BSkyB’s bid does not adequately compensate them for future earnings and profits. Sky Deutschland has not paid a dividend to date. The rejection is in part seen as a protecting the boards from legal action from these minority shareholders.

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