EU clears Fox takeover of Sky
April 7, 2017
EU Competition Authorities have reportedly given the greenlight for 21st Century Fox to acquire full control of Sky plc.
The acquisition, agreed last December, has also been referred to Ofcom by Karen Bradley, the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The regulator now has 40 working days to decide whether the bid for Sky should go ahead, it is due to report back to Bradley by 16 May.
Fox already owns 39.1% of Sky.
Reuters have reported the bid, worth £11.7bn (€13.6bn), will win unconditional approval from antitrust authorities in Europe. A OK from the European Commission was expected as they cleared the previous bid in 2010 when News Corporation attempted to take full control of Sky. That deal failed because of the News of the Word phone hacking scandal. There has been some speculation that recent controversy over alleged sexual harassment at Fox News may affect Ofcom thinking on the fit and proper person tests for media takeovers.