UK regulator: Fox takeover of Sky not in public interest
Posted January 23, 2018 2:48 am.
Last Updated January 23, 2018 3:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LONDON – Britain’s competition regulator has found that 21st Century Fox’s planned takeover of Sky plc is not in the public interest because it would give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much control of the country’s news media.
The preliminary ruling issued Tuesday by the Competition and Markets authority will be finalized by May 1, when the authority will send its report to the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, who will make a final decision on the deal.
Anne Lambert, the chair of the authority’s investigation, says the deal “will result in the Murdoch family having too much control over news providers in the UK and too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda.”
