The European Commission has given itself an extra fortnight to consider the competition implications of News Corp’s bid to take control of Sky as News reportedly offers significant concessions to try and ensure the deal is approved.

The EC decision deadline has been moved back from 8^th December to the 22^nd after it received ‘an offer’ from the company which reportedly volunteers to abide by a range of specific conditions to protect competition – though the proposals fall short of selling any of News Corp’s UK newspaper interests. If the commission decides a more in-depth “phase II” investigation is necessary this could then take up to a further 125 working days.

News Corp proposed wants to buy the 61% of BSkyB it does not already own. News Corp has to get the deal approved by European on compeition and Ofcom on plurality.

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