The Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally blocked Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7 billion bid to take full control of Sky (LON: SKY).
The UK competition regulator expressed concerns about media plurality. If the deal went ahead, the Murdoch’s would control Fox and News Corp, the Sun and the Times.
The Murdoch family would, therefore, have “too much control over news providers in the UK across all media platforms and therefore too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda”.
The Competition and Markets Authority still have to consult its provisional findings and publish a final report to the government by a deadline of 1 May.
Options for Murdoch include: that the deal blocked; Sky News sold, or that Sky News is insulated from the influence of the Murdoch’s.
“We welcome the CMA’s provisional finding that the company has a genuine commitment to broadcasting standards and the transaction would not be against the public interest in this respect,” said Fox in response to the CMA’s results to the investigation.
“Regarding plurality, we are disappointed by the CMA’s provisional findings. We will continue to engage with the CMA ahead of the publication of the final report in May.”
Chair of the CMA’s independent investigation group, Anne Lambert, said: “Media plurality goes to the heart of our democratic process. It is very important that no group or individual should have too much control of our news media or too much power to affect the political agenda.
“Our in-depth investigation also considered whether the deal would be against the public interest regarding broadcasting standards. Due to their existing track record in the UK, and the range of policies and procedures the companies involved have in place to ensure broadcasting standards are met, we did not find public interest concerns in this regard.”
The deal was past onto the CMA for an investigation last September by Karen Bradley. Final results are due to be published later this year.
21st Century Fox is currently in talks with Disney, with hopes to sell most of the company.