Murdoch withdraws BSkyB bid
Published:Thursday | July 14, 2011 | 12:00 AM
In a stunning retreat, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire dropped its bid Wednesday to take over full control of British Sky Broadcasting, amid a political and legal firestorm over phone hacking at one of its British newspapers.
Murdoch was forced to step back from the biggest battle of his career over a lucrative prize, accepting that he could not win government acceptance of the takeover, as Britain's major political parties had united against it.
"It has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate," News Corp Deputy Chairman and President Chase Carey said in a brief statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Shares in BSkyB dived 4 per cent lower after the announcement.
Murdoch had hoped to gain control of the 61 percent of BSkyB shares that his News Corp doesn't yet own, but the bid was delayed for several months even before he withdrew, while the British government's Competition Commission reviewed monopoly concerns.
Possible options
A report Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, which is part of News Corp, said Murdoch has met with advisers over recent weeks to discuss possible options including the sale of the remaining British newspapers — The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.
The Journal, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation, said there didn't appear to be any buyers, given the poor economics of the newspaper division.
Hours earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron announced he was putting a senior judge, Lord Justice Brian Leveson, in charge of an inquiry into phone hacking and alleged bribery by a tabloid newspaper, and vowed to investigate an allegation that a UK reporter may have sought the phone numbers of 9/11 victims in a quest for sensational scoops.
"There is a firestorm, if you like, that is engulfing parts of the media, parts of the police, and indeed our political system's ability to respond", Cameron said in the House of Commons. He said the focus must now be on the victims, and make sure that the guilty are prosecuted.
- AP