Britain said on Monday it would decide as “soon as is reasonably practicable” whether to refer Rupert Murdoch’s $15 billion bid to buy pay-TV group Sky for an in-depth review.
Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox agreed to take full control of the European pay-TV group Sky in December, but the British government is still deciding whether to refer the deal for a full investigation which could add many months to the approval process.
“Following the advice received from Ofcom on 25 August 2017, the secretary of state [of culture Karen Bradley] sought clarification from Ofcom on some aspects of the advice,” the culture department said. “We have, today, received Ofcom’s response and the secretary of state will now carefully consider the advice before making her decision on referral on the basis of all the evidence before her, as soon as is reasonably practicable.”
It asked regulator Ofcom to look again at certain aspects of the deal in August and said on Monday it would carefully consider the advice before taking a final decision.
The DCMS will publish the details of the latest Ofcom report and the subsequent clarification requested when the decision on the Fox-Sky deal is made.
