Press release: Fox/Sky: CMA publishes statement of issues for investigation

The CMA has set out more detail about what it intends to examine in its investigation into the proposed takeover of Sky Plc by 21st Century Fox.

On 20 September, Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport referred Fox’s proposed takeover of Sky to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on public interest grounds.

The CMA will now examine how the deal would impact media plurality and broadcasting standards in the UK.

The issues statement sets out the proposed approach to assessing the impact of the merger. Anyone wanting to provide submissions is invited to do so based on the areas and questions outlined in the issues statement.

The CMA is required to report to the Secretary of State with its recommendations within 6 months of opening the investigation.

Anne Lambert, Panel Chair, said:

Today we set out the scope of our investigation and the issues on which we will focus.

We now invite submissions on these specific matters so we can thoroughly examine the relevant evidence.

The CMA will use its extensive experience of investigating different issues in a wide range of sectors to thoroughly and impartially investigate the proposed takeover of Sky Plc by 21st Century Fox.

Once the investigation is complete we will report back to Karen Bradley for her to make a final decision.

Notes to editors

  1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law.

  2. The CMA has appointed an investigation group, which is responsible for providing the Culture Secretary with the CMA’s final report. This will be chaired by Anne Lambert. The other panel members are Sarah Chambers, John Krumins and Tim Tutton. All the appointees are chosen from the CMA’s expert independent panel members, who come from a variety of backgrounds including public policy, business, economics and law.

  3. A timetable for the 6-month investigation has been published on the merger investigation page. This sets out all steps and provisional deadlines until the final report, including the timeline for submissions from third parties.

  4. Submissions referring to competition issues arising from the merger will not be considered as these have already been investigated by the European Commission and cleared.

  5. Media queries should be sent to: press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or journalists can call 07774 134814.

  6. Anyone wanting to submit evidence is advised to read the case page and issues statement and follow the instructions set out on these pages.