LONDON—British regulators said the corporate battle between 21st Century Fox and Comcast to take over broadcaster Sky will be settled by auction.
The Takeover Panel, an independent regulator, said since neither company has declared its offer final, an auction procedure is expected to commence at 5 p.m. on September 21 and end during the evening of September 22.
Comcast has put down a £26-billion ($34.3 billion) offer for Sky. Fox has bid £24.5 billion for 61 percent of the satellite broadcaster it does not own.
The panel will make an announcement setting out the prices of the offers at the end of the auction.