Rupert Murdoch's bid to take over Sky has been "dealt a blow" after U.K. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said that she "needed more time to deliberate before calling in the competition regulator," according to Mark Sweney of the London GUARDIAN. Bradley was "inundated with tens of thousands of submissions" opposing the £11.7B ($15.2B) deal. She said that she "had hoped to be able to make a final decision" on whether to ask the Competition & Markets Authority to investigate the deal "before parliament breaks up for summer on Friday." However, Bradley said that she received "tens of thousands of representations," many of which duplicated each other, which "needed to be looked at." Bradley: "A final decision can only be made after fully considering all relevant evidence on both the plurality and commitment to broadcasting grounds" (GUARDIAN, 7/20). In London, Deirdre Hipwell reported Lachlan and James Murdoch "warned the government that further delays to 21st Century Fox's plan to take over Sky could harm Britain's attractiveness to investors after Brexit." In a letter addressed to Bradley, they said that while 21st Century Fox waits to see if regulators will approve its plan to gain full control of Sky, "important investment decisions will inevitably need to be deferred." They added, "There is also the broader risk of a potential harmful effect on other companies' inward investment decisions currently under consideration in the UK." Lachlan Murdoch is co-chair of 21st Century Fox with his father, Rupert Murdoch. James Murdoch is CEO of 21st Century Fox and Chair of Sky (LONDON TIMES, 7/20).
DECISION EXPECTED IN 'WEEKS': Also in London, Christopher Williams reported the takeover is "now unlikely to be completed before the next Premier League auction, due early next year." Any "major change" to Sky's status as the leading broadcaster of top flight domestic football or to its £1.4B ($1.8B)-per-year rights bill "could trigger a renegotiation with Fox." Bradley said that she expected to make her final decision "in the coming weeks." She added that "could mean an announcement during recess," which begins on Friday and runs until early September. Such a move would be "strongly opposed by Labour," which said that Parliament "must be allowed to debate her decision" (TELEGRAPH, 7/20). The BBC reported Bradley told MPs she "still had concerns about the amount of control the deal would give" Murdoch over the U.K. media industry. She already indicated that she "did not object to the deal on the grounds of broadcasting standards." U.K. Shadow Culture Secretary Tom Watson "welcomed the delay" by Bradley, saying, "It is not her job to operate to 21st Century Fox's corporate timetable -- they have to abide by the parliamentary timetable" (BBC, 7/20).
