UK government to take more time to consider Fox-Sky deal

LONDON – Britain’s culture secretary needs more time to consider Twenty-First Century Fox’s takeover bid for the Sky pay television and broadband network.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said Thursday in an update before Parliament breaks for recess that she is not yet in a position to make a final decision on whether or not to refer the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority for further review.

Britain’s government had stalled the takeover after regulators said it could give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much influence over the country’s media.

Bradley said last month the deal “potentially raises public interest concerns” and that she is “minded to” send it to the competition authority.

Murdoch’s New York-based media group is trying to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it doesn’t already own.