As you are probably aware, Sky has stated that it received an approach from 21st Century Fox to acquire the 61 per cent share of Sky that it does not yet already own.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Karen Bradley, has powers to intervene in certain media mergers on public interest grounds. These powers derive from legislation which also includes Government guidance on the operation of these public interest merger provisions. 21st Century Fox has proposed to acquire the 61% share of Sky that it does not own, causing risk to the diversity of UK media.
I would like to use this as an opportunity to restate the Government’s commitment to fairness regarding such take-over bids. All transactions are assessed on a case-by-case basis, focused only on merit. The guidance makes it clear that the Secretary of State will aim to take an initial decision on whether to intervene within ten working days of formal notification of the merger to the competition authorities, or of the transaction being brought to her attention. I understand that no such formal notification has yet been received.
While I understand the concerns from some members of the public on this, the role of the Secretary of State is a quasi-judicial one, and it is important that she acts independently and is not subject to improper influence. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to comment further at this time.