BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster, this morning lost a legal appeal against a ruling ordering it to cut its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV.
The company, which is 39.2 per cent owned by News Corporation, ultimate parent of The Times, had challenged a ruling made by the Competition Commission in December 2007 that the shareholding “may be expected to operate against the public interest”. BSkyB was ordered to reduce the holding, acquired in November 2006, to below 7.5 per cent.
That decision was later upheld by John Denham, the Business Secretary, at the time, the following month. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) later upheld the decision in September 2008.
This prompted BSkyB to lodge a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal. After this morning’s ruling, BSkyB, which had wanted the ruling sent back to the Competition Commission for a fresh investigation, may still appeal to the Supreme Court.
BSkyB’s purchase of the stake was widely seen in the City as a means of stopping the cable company NTL, since rebranded as Virgin Media, from buying or merging with ITV in order to obtain more content.
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It bought the shares in ITV at 135p each, costing a total of £940 million. ITV shares were trading this morning at 562.5p, down 1.5p.