The U.K. government said that "it is leaning toward intervening" in 21st Century Fox's proposed £11.7B ($14.4B) takeover of Sky, citing the "potential impact on media plurality and broadcasting standards," and "will make a final decision within 10 days," according to Joe Mayes of BLOOMBERG. U.K. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said, "I have concerns that there may be public-interest considerations -- as set out in the Enterprise Act 2002 -- that are relevant to this proposed merger that warrant further investigation." Fox’s bid to take over Sky, in which it already has a 39% stake, "was officially referred to European Union competition authorities on Friday." While the EU is not "expected to intervene," the notification "triggered a 10-day window for Bradley to decide whether to ask the U.K.’s communications regulator, Ofcom, to start its own investigation." Bradley: "This is not an announcement of my final decision in relation to intervention, but an indication of what I am presently minded to do." She said that she "plans to give a final decision in the week beginning March 13." Media billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s previous attempt to acquire Sky "was thwarted" in '11 "over a phone-hacking scandal at his newspapers." Murdoch’s News Corp. has "since been split, with Fox owning the entertainment business." U.K. opposition lawmaker Tom Watson, a "vocal critic of the Murdochs at the time of the phone-hacking revelations," said that the government should have referred the takeover to Ofcom "immediately and without equivocation" (BLOOMBERG, 3/3).
