29th Jan 2008 07:00
Dept for Business, Enterprise & Reg29 January 2008 29 January 2008 FINAL DECISION ON BSKYB'S STAKE IN ITV Secretary of State for Business and Enterprise, John Hutton, has today announcedhis decision on British Sky Broadcasting Group's acquisition of a 17.9% stake inITV plc. Under sections 54 and 55 of the Enterprise Act, the Secretary of Statehas decided: • To make an adverse public interest finding taking account of the Competition Commission's decision that this transaction results in a substantial lessening of competition within the UK market for all television. • To find that the transaction does not have an adverse effect on the relevant specified public interest consideration relating to plurality of persons with control of media enterprises. • To impose the remedies recommended by the Competition Commission to address the substantial lessening of competition identified in their report: divestment of BSkyB's shares in ITV down to a level below 7.5% and behavioural undertakings from BSkyB requiring the company not to dispose of the shares to an associated person, not to seek or accept representation on the Board of ITV and not to reacquire shares in ITV. The Secretary of State's decisions in this case follow the CompetitionCommission's detailed investigation and report into the effects of BSkyB'sshareholding in ITV on competition and on the public interest as it relates tothe need to ensure a sufficient plurality of persons with control of mediaenterprises. In reaching his decision, the Secretary of State also gavecareful consideration to the representations received by him from both theprincipal parties and from third parties. Draft undertakings will be published in due course in accordance with Schedule10 of Enterprise Act 2002. This allows for interested parties to comment on theproposed undertakings. Notes to editors 1. On 24 May, the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, referred the acquisition to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation under section 45(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act). Under its terms of reference the CC was required to prepare a report in accordance with Section 50 of that Act containing decisions on whether a relevant merger situation had been created; whether that situation would be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) in any market or markets in the UK; and whether, taking into consideration only any SLC and the media public interest consideration specified in the reference, the merger may be expected to operate against the public interest. The public interest consideration specified in this case is the one at section 58(2C)(a) of the Act. This is specified as: 'the need, in relation to every different audience in the UK or in a particular area or locality of the UK, for there to be a sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprises serving that audience'. 1. The Secretary of State received the final report of the Competition Commission, prepared in accordance with Section 50 of the Act, on 14 December 2007 ("the Competition Commission Report"). This was published on 20 December 2007. 2. The Secretary of State published the Competition Commission's report on the merger on 20 December 2007 (BERR Press Notice 20007/141). 3. Under section 120 of the Enterprise Act 2002, any person aggrieved by this decision has four weeks within which to apply to the Competition Appeal Tribunal for a review of the decision. 4. The Secretary of State received a request from BSkyB not to disclose to any party other than BSkyB the period of time within which the necessary divestment of shares is to be completed. They argued that wider disclosure of this information was not necessary and could be unduly prejudicial to their legitimate commercial interests. ITV argued conversely that the period should be made public. The Secretary of State recognises there are arguments on both sides. On balance, having consulted the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading about their practice in similar cases, the Secretary of State has decided not to disclose the information. The specified divestment period will begin from the date that suitable divestment undertakings are finalised. 5. A copy of the final decision can be found at - http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7190m_-2008-1-28.pdf This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
ITVSky