UK Government Orders Review of Sky’s $2.1 Billion ITV Acquisition
The U.K. government has formally intervened in Sky’s proposed $2.1 billion acquisition of ITV, creating a regulatory hurdle for the deal. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy issued a public interest intervention notice after considering representations from Sky UK Limited and ITV plc. The notice requires the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom to examine the transaction before the government decides whether it should face a more extensive investigation.
The CMA will assess the merger from a jurisdictional and competition perspective, while Ofcom will consider public-interest issues relating to the media sector. Both regulators must report their findings by January 27. Nandy will then decide whether to instruct the CMA to begin a more detailed inquiry. She said there was no need to issue a separate foreign state intervention notice.
The acquisition, announced earlier in 2026, covers ITV’s public-service broadcasting network and its ITVX streaming platform. ITV’s production arm, ITV Studios, would be spun off and would not form part of the transaction. The proposed takeover by Comcast-owned Sky therefore concerns ITV’s broadcasting and streaming operations rather than the entire company. The intervention does not block the deal outright, but it means the acquisition must pass additional competition and public-interest scrutiny before it can proceed.
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