UK culture secretary Bradley mulls Fox's Sky takeover

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said by next Friday she would decide whether Sky's takeover by 21st Century Fox should be referred to full competition investigation.

Ofcom on Tuesday afternoon gave Bradley its assessment of whether the acquisition by Rupert Murdoch's Fox of the 61% of the UK broadcaster it does not already own would be in the public interest and filed a separate 'fit and proper' test of the company directors, while the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) presented a report on jurisdiction.

In March Bradley issued a European intervention notice asking Ofcom to consider whether there would be "sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprises; and whether the parties would have genuine commitment to the attainment in relation to broadcasting of standards objectives".

On Tuesday the culture secretary said she intends to announce by 29 June whether or not she is minded to refer the merger to the Competition and Markets Authority for a deeper ‘phase two’ inquiry and to publish Ofcom’s public interest report at the same time.

According to a statement from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, once the 'minded to' decision is taken, there will then be an opportunity for Sky, Fox and other parties to make representations before a final decision is made.

"In the meantime, given the ongoing quasi-judicial nature of this process, I am unable to comment substantively on the matter of this case," Bradley said.

"My priority remains - as it has throughout this proposed merger - to make my decision independently, following a process that is scrupulously fair and impartial, and as quickly as possible."

The culture and media department can intervene in takeover deals on the basis of public interest considerations, with legislation specifying the "need for there to be a sufficient plurality of media ownership, for the availability of a wide range of high-quality broadcasting and for those with control of media enterprises to have a genuine commitment to broadcasting standards objectives".

Media plurality is in question as Murdoch, whose News Corp controls the Times and Sun newspapers, would also then own all of Sky, the UK's largest privately-owned national broadcaster.

A previous Ofcom investigation into the company's former guise as News International following the phone hacking scandal found that Murdoch's son James "repeatedly fell short of the conduct expected of him as chief executive and chairman", there was "insufficient evidence to conclude he deliberately engaged in wrongdoing".