James 2017 The CEO of Twenty-First Century Fox Murdoch and chairman of Sky Plc.

James 2017 Twenty-First Century Fox CEO Murdoch and former CEO and chairman of Sky Plc.

Fox is also the largest shareholder in European pay-TV group Sky PLC with 39 percent.

James 2017 The CEO of Twenty-First Century Fox Murdoch FOXA.O and chairman of Sky Plc SKYB.L.

That issue has slowed Britain's regulatory review of the company's bid to take over broadcaster Sky Plc.

Comcast Corp has launched a rival bid for one asset -Britain's Sky PLC -which has complicated the deal.

Comcast said it intended to pursue its $30 billion acquisition of Sky Plc SKYB.L in parallel with its Fox bid.

In addition to retail users in Europe, Yahoo also provides email services for other companies, including UK-listed groups Sky Plc and BT Plc.

Comcast is also competing against Disney to acquire control of European broadcaster Sky Plc SKYB.L, in which Fox already owns a 39 percent stake.

BBC had earlier approached Sky Plc SKYB.L as a potential partner in the joint venture but the talks did not work out, the report added.

Fox offered, in December, to buy the nearly 61 percent of European pay-TV group Sky Plc that it does not already own for $14.5 billion.