News Corporation takeover bid for BSkyB the deal, the proposal was referred to Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for culture, media and sport. Hunt initially elected not to refer to the deal to the Competition Commission, announcing on 3 March 2011 that he intended to accept a series of undertakings given by News Corporation, paving the way for the deal to be approved. The undertakings would have led to Sky News being severed from BSkyB. On 23 June it was reported that News Corp had reached an agreement with Ofcom to approve the takeover, on the basis of Sky News becoming a separate company. By
News Corporation and pop singer Justin Timberlake bought the site for $35 million, which CNN reported noted was "far less than the $580 million News Corp. paid for Myspace in 2005." Murdoch went on to call the Myspace purchase a "huge mistake". On 13 July 2011, Rupert Murdoch announced that the company would withdraw its takeover bid for BSkyB due to concerns relating to the "News of the World" scandal. News Corporation already owned, and continues to own, 39.1% of BSkyB. On 6 June 2012, News Corporation announced that it would buy out ESPN Inc.'s stake in ESPN Star Sports to gain