Comcast Corp has raised its offer for Britain's Sky in a deal valuing the pay-TV group at $US34 billion ($A46 billion), topping a raised bid of $US32.5 billion from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.
Comcast on Wednesday said its cash offer had been recommended by Sky's independent committee of directors and that it has committed financing required for the deal.
The company said it expects to complete the acquisition before the end of October 2018, having received regulatory approvals in the EU, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Jersey.
Fox, which has been trying to buy the pan-European group since December 2016, offered to pay 14 British pounds per share, a 12 per cent premium to Comcast's earlier offer.
The US cable group gatecrashed Murdoch's attempt to buy the 61 per cent of Sky his group did not already own in February, when Fox was still firmly stuck in the regulatory process.
The fight for Britain's leading pay-TV group is part of a bigger battle being waged in the entertainment industry as the world's media giants splash out tens of billions of dollars on deals to be able to compete with Netflix and Amazon.
Comcast and Walt Disney are locked in a separate $US70 billion-plus battle to buy most of Fox's assets, which would include Sky.
Disney secured conditional US approval to buy the assets last month, giving it an edge over Comcast's bid.
