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"Shares in Sky slumped today after culture secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that it will &amp;quot;take some time&amp;quot; for him to decide whether to allow Rupert Murdoch&amp;#039;s News Corporation to take full control of the satellite pay-TV giant.  Last month, Hunt announced his intention to approve News Corp&amp;#039;s proposal to spin off Sky News as an independent company as a way to ease media plurality concerns about the Sky takeover. He then launched a seven-day consultation, which is understood to have attracted 100,000-plus submissions before it closed at midday today, most of which were opposed to the takeover. Hunt was expected to green light the bid by News Corp to acquire the 61% of Sky that it does not already own, but the sheer volume of submissions has caused him to delay the decision. The culture secretary will now take further advice from media regulator Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading before making his decision. He will also consider whether to take into account News Corp&amp;#039;s decision to shut down the News of the World, the newspaper at the centre of the phone hacking scandal. In a statement, Hunt&amp;#039;s department of culture, media and sport said: &amp;quot;The secretary of state has always been clear that he will take as long as is needed to reach a decision. &amp;quot;The secretary of state will consider carefully all the responses submitted and take advice from Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading before reaching his decision.  &amp;quot;Given the volume of responses, we anticipate that this will take some time. He will consider all relevant factors including whether the announcement regarding the News of the World&amp;#039;s closure has any impact on the question of media plurality.&amp;quot; Writing yesterday on his blog, the BBC&amp;#039;s business editor Robert Peston claimed that Hunt&amp;#039;s final decision is likely to be delayed for many weeks, possibly until September.  The news comes a day after Murdoch attempted to show strong action on the phone hacking scandal by closing the profitable yet embattled News of the World. The paper&amp;#039;s former editor Andy Coulson was today arrested by police as part of the investigation into phone hacking, while even Prime Minister David Cameron has said that News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks should stand down. Shares in Sky fell by 47 pence, or 5.8%, to 765p in trading this morning, bringing their total slump to 10%, effectively wiping \u00A31.4bn off the company&amp;#039;s value.  There has been speculation that Murdoch decided to use the News of the World as a sacrificial lamb in order get his hands on the much more profitable Sky. Louise Cooper, market analyst at BGC Partners, told The Guardian: &amp;quot;By sacrificing the News of the World (rather than Rebekah Brooks) Rupert Murdoch has shown us how keen he is to own Sky.  &amp;quot;Although quite clearly the future of a global media empire is not in newspapers, it must have been a painful decision to close down the most successful British Sunday paper. The financial impact of closure on News Corp is minimal.&amp;quot; However, the slump in Sky&amp;#039;s share price seems to reflect that the market has become worried that the government will now look to block the deal in order to avoid an embarrassing controversy.  Ed Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom, yesterday tellingly issued a statement stressing the regulator&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;ongoing duty&amp;quot; to impose a &amp;quot;fit and proper test&amp;quot; on all media owners. Sky&amp;#039;s share price was around 550p when News Corp submitted its first bid for the firm in June 2010, but the price has climbed dramatically over the past year as investors rushed to pick up shares with the expectations of big profits.  The satellite broadcaster&amp;#039;s independent directors said that an offer of 800p or more would bring them to the negotiating table, but some analysts believe Murdoch will have to pay more than 900p per share if the takeover is approved by the government.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/media/news/a328955/sky-shares-slump-on-news-corporation-bid-delay/>