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The government have given regulators an extension for their investigation into the proposed 21st Century Fox takeover of Sky (LON:SKY).
Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, said she had taken the decision to extend the deadline in light of the upcoming general election.
Back in December, 21st Century Fox reached a preliminary agreement to buy Sky for £10.75 per share. The deal valued the TV broadcasting service at £18.5 billion ($23.2 billion).
The deal has been called into question by Ofcom over concerns that Fox owner Rupert Murdoch would have too much control over the British media. Fox already holds a 39 percent stake in Sky, which operates UK’s largest digital subscription television company.
Alongside a partial stake in Sky, Mr Murdoch the Times, Sunday Times and Sun newspapers and the radio group TalkSport, through his umbrella company News Corp.
Ms Bradley said she taken the decision to extend the deadline until Tuesday 20 June after the state opening of Parliament “given the proximity of this decision to the forthcoming general election and following discussions with the parties, Ofcom, the CMA and the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics team.”
Alongside British Ofcom regulators, the deal was also under examination by the European commission. Earlier this month, the commission gave its “unconditional approval” for the proposed merger.
“Based on the results of its market investigation, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns,” it said.
“Fox and Sky are mainly active in different markets in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK. They compete with each other only to a limited extent, mainly in the acquisition of TV content and in the wholesale supply of basic pay-TV channels.”
Back in 2010, Murdoch had initiated a takeover for Sky which was derailed by investigations into NewsCorp’s News of the World publication’s phone hacking allegations.