OFT Concerned with Sky and Virgin Media Digital Merger

The British Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced its plans to review the deal between Sky and Virgin Media.

The OFT is concerned with possible competition or regulatory issues this agreement might raise.

Also, the department seeks the experts of digital TV industry to determine whether the deal between Sky and Virgin Media can be classified as a merger. The Office of Fair Trading wants them to make predictions on how the acquisition can affect the UK digital TV market.

The regulatory body claims that any issues, should they be found, will inevitably be reported to the Competition Commission, a UK independent body responsible for investigating mergers and acquisitions.

Let us remind that Sky, the UK satellite broadcasting company, has acquired digital TV channels of Virgin Media. The initial price of the deal between the rival digital TV providers amounted to £105 million. £55 million are to be paid.

The companies claim that the agreement was concluded on the basis of the regulatory approval granted to them by the Republic of Ireland.