News Corporation takeover bid for BSkyB early July, despite public opposition to the deal, "Government says its ready to give clearance to deal. Jeremy Hunt gives opponents one final week to raise objections. However, he has provisionally agreed to proposals that will see Sky News be spun off as an independent company to allay fears the deal would give Mr Murdoch's News Corporation too much control of the media. After the consultation ends on July 8, Mr Hunt is expected to wave the merger through once and for all. He is keen to give final confirmation by July 19 when the summer parliamentary recess begins." Several
News Corp relating to news events from social networking services, for $25 million, marking News Corp's first acquisition since the split. Robert Thomson stated that the service had "become the village square for valuable video, using journalistic sensibility, integrity and creativity to find, authenticate and commercialise user-generated content", and that with the purchase, News Corp would "define the opportunities that the digital landscape presents, rather than simply adapt to them." On May 2, 2014, News Corp acquired romance novel publisher Harlequin Enterprises from Torstar for $415 million. The deal closed on August 1; it is now operated as a subsidiary of News