BSkyB takeover plan recieves flurry of late submissions

A deluge of last-minute submissions on News Corporation's proposed bid for BSkyB is likely to push back any final decision on the deal until September.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has received tens of thousands of comments on the deal following the controversy over the phone hacking affair.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, but the flurry of late entries is likely to take several weeks to assess.

On Friday shares in BSkyB continued to fall, down 0.3% in early trading.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which owns 39.1% of BSkyB, has offered 700p a share for the remainder of the satellite broadcaster.

Mr Hunt has previously signalled that he is minded to approve the takeover, subject to News Corp spinning off Sky News.

However, the controversy over phone hacking at the News of the World, a paper owned by News Corp, has led to Mr Hunt's department receiving a mass of late submissions.

Campaigners against the BSkyB takeover believe that more that more than 200,000 submissions will be lodged by Friday's deadline.

Assessing the comments is expected to push back any final decision by Mr Hunt until the autumn.

Closure

On Friday, Labour leader Ed Miliband called for the bid to be referred to the Competition Commission.

The 168-year-old News of the World is being closed after it publishes its last edition this Sunday.

The tabloid is accused of hacking into phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians. Police have identified 4,000 possible targets.

Shares in BSkyB fell 2.5p to 810p in early trading as investors speculated that the NoW affair would damage News Corp's bid.

Alex DeGroote, analyst at Panmure Gordon, said in a research note published on Friday: "Probability of deal collapse much higher now."

Shares in other UK media companies rose on hopes they will grab market share from NoW's closure. Trinity Mirror shares rose more than 10%.

One of the concerns about the takeover had been that News International, which runs News Corp's UK papers, has too dominant a position in UK media.

Source:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14075136