Culture secretary Karen Bradley has told Parliament that she is “minded” to refer Rupert Murdoch’s planned takeover of Sky to a full investigation due to fears his company would have too much influence across the media.
In December, Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox agreed to buy the final 61% of Sky that it doesn’t own for £11.7bn.
After an investigation into the proposed deal by industry watchdog, Ofcom, Bradley will now refer the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority.
"On the basis of (regulator) Ofcom’s assessment I confirm that I am minded to refer to a Phase 2 investigation on the grounds of media plurality," Bradley told the Commons.
"The reasoning and evidence on which Ofcom’s recommendation is based are persuasive – the proposed entity would have the third largest total reach of any news provider, lower only than the BBC and ITN and would uniquely span news coverage on television, radio, in newspapers and online."
Staff Reporter
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