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		</div><p>The UK&#8217;s competition watchdog looks poised to launch an in-depth investigation into Rupert Murdoch&#8217;s £11.7bn swoop for Sky after British culture secretary Karen Bradley said she was &#8220;minded&#8221; to refer the bid for further scrutiny.</p>
<p>Speaking in the Commons, Ms Bradley said an Ofcom report found that the attempt by Murdoch&#8217;s 21st Century Fox to acquire the 61% of Sky it does not already own risks handing the tycoon&#8217;s family &#8220;increased influence&#8221; over the UK&#8217;s news agenda and the political process.</p>
<p>Ofcom told the Secretary of State that the takeover attempt raised &#8220;public interest concerns&#8221; and she could refer the deal to the UK&#8217;s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a fuller investigation on the grounds of media plurality.</p>
<p>Ms Bradley told MPs: &#8220;Ofcom&#8217;s report states that the proposed transaction would give the Murdoch Family Trust material influence over news providers with a significant presence across all key platforms.</p>
<p>&#8220;This potentially raises public interest concerns because, in Ofcom&#8217;s view, the transaction may increase members of the Murdoch Family Trust&#8217;s ability to influence the overall news agenda and their ability to influence the political process and it may also result in the perception of increased influence.</p>
<p>&#8220;These are clear grounds whereby a referral to a phase two investigation is warranted &#8211; so that is what I am minded to do.&#8221; Ms Bradley said Sky and Fox could make representations to her before she reaches a final decision, with a deadline of July 14.</p>
<p>However, she was &#8220;minded not to refer&#8221; the bid to a phase two investigation in relation to a &#8220;genuine commitment to broadcasting standards&#8221;. Her comments came as Ofcom said the merger would not stop Sky from holding a broadcasting licence, despite concerns over &#8220;significant failings&#8221; in the corporate culture at Fox News.</p>
<p>While the broadcast regulator made clear it was not its role to investigate allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News, it said the US news giant&#8217;s response to the claims had been &#8220;mixed&#8221;.<br />
It also flagged that Fox News had only &#8220;recently rectified&#8221; a failure to put in place regulatory compliance procedures.</p>
<p>Focusing on the sexual harassment complaints, the regulator said: &#8220;Some allegations were handled swiftly. But Fox was slower to deal with Bill O&#8217;Reilly, its star anchor. &#8220;In order to have a concern about fitness and properness we would need to see evidence of misconduct in the parent company Fox.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, we have no clear evidence that senior executives at Fox were aware of misconduct before it was escalated to them. And senior executives put in place new corporate governance arrangements.&#8221; Mr Murdoch&#8217;s bid comes five years after his last attempt at taking the business over through News Corporation in 2011.</p>
<p>The tilt faced opposition from media industry rivals and politicians before it was scuppered by acute pressure on the company brought about by phone-hacking claims involving News International. Responding to Ms Bradley, 21st Century Fox said it was &#8220;disappointed&#8221; by the announcement.</p>
<p>In a statement, the company said: &#8220;We are disappointed that she does not accept Ofcom&#8217;s recommendation stated in its report that&#8230; &#8216;the proposed undertakings offered by Fox to maintain the editorial independence of Sky News mitigate the media plurality concerns&#8217;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Separately, 21st Century Fox is pleased that Ofcom recognises that Sky, under full 21st Century Fox ownership, would remain a fit and proper holder of broadcast licenses.&#8221;<br />
21st Century Fox will now make representations to the Secretary of State regarding the decision and Ofcom&#8217;s report.</p>
<p>Sky said: &#8220;Sky welcomes today&#8217;s announcement of Ofcom&#8217;s decision that Sky would continue to be a fit and proper holder of its broadcast licences under full ownership of 21CF and will continue to operate its business as usual.&#8221;</p>
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