(Associated Press via NewsEdge) The Office of Fair Trading, Britain's competition watchdog, said it is inquiring into British Sky Broadcasting's purchase of a significant stake in commercial broadcast ITV.
Sky's purchased a 17.9% stake in ITV in November, effective killing cable company NTL's hopes of taking over ITV.
NTL and its major stockholder, Richard Branson, complained bitterly about the maneuver by Sky, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
The Office of Fair Trading said it wasn't interested in whether Sky's stake was intended to block NTL, but whether Sky itself intended to take over ITV. Sky has denied any such ambitions.
The agency gave interested parties, including NTL, if it wishes, until January 25 to comment.
If the agency decides that Sky is moving toward a takeover, it would then investigate whether the combination would violate competition rules.
In addition to the controlling stake in satellite broadcaster BSkyB, News Corp.'s U.K. subsidiary News International also owns The Sun and the Sunday newspaper News of the World, both the largest in their markets.
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