Murdoch Bid for Sky Control Hits New Bump as U.K. Official Hints at Inquiry<br />In an address to Parliament, the minister, Karen Bradley, said she was "minded" to refer the $15 billion deal to the Competition<br />and Markets Authority for a more intensive inquiry into concerns about whether Fox would uphold broadcast standards in Britain and whether owning all of Sky would give it too much control of the British media.<br />12, 2017<br />LONDON — Britain’s culture minister said on Tuesday<br />that she was inclined to ask the country’s competition regulator to carry out a detailed review of a bid by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to take full control of the British satellite television giant Sky.<br />That Ms. Bradley would say she was leaning toward seeking a fuller inquiry was expected: She had previously indicated<br />that concerns about how much control the Murdoch family would have over the country’s media merited a further review.<br />Analysts had long anticipated a move by 21st Century Fox to gain full control of Sky as media companies seek to grow, control more content and distribute<br />that content directly to customers in hopes of keeping pace with companies like Netflix and Amazon.<br />Mr. Murdoch’s company had said that its existing stake in Sky was "not a natural end position."<br />But 21st Century Fox has struggled to move past the sexual harassment scandal.
