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Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that he intends to refer News Corp's proposed buyout of BSkyB to the Competition Commission but will first consider proposed remedies.
Following a report from media regulator Ofcom, Hunt said the proposed takeover might be against the public interest in media plurality and he was minded to refer it to the Commission.
"As a result of these meetings and my consideration of the Ofcom report and subsequent submissions from the parties involved I still intend to refer the merger to the Competition Commission," Hunt said in a statement today.
"On the evidence available, I consider that it may be the case that the merger may operate against the public interest in media plurality."
He added that he would consider proposals put forward by News Corp to alleviate competition.
The report from media watchdog Ofcom in December recommended that the proposed deal should be investigated further by the Commission.
News Corp made an approach in June to buy the 61 per cent of BSkyB it does not already own. The group also owns UK newspapers The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and News of the World.
Authority for dealing with the case was handed to Hunt in Decemberafter business secretary Vince Cable's comments to undercover journalists thathe had "declared war" on News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch.
Cable said he had "complete confidence" that the culture secretary would handle the proposed BSkyB deal "according to due process".
Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme Cable said the Telegraph undercover recording that led to his being taken of the deal was now "water under the bridge", although he was critical of the tactics used by the paper.
He said: "The key is that this is a very formal, quite complex, legal process that has to be followed in cases of this kind and the now-responsible minister will be doing that and that is the safeguard of the public interest."
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