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 takeover bid for BSkyB Corporation announced its intention to seek regulatory approval from the European Commission in November. The Commission unconditionally approved the proposal the following month. The proposal was also reviewed by the British government. On 4 November 2010 Business Secretary Vince Cable referred the takeover bid to Ofcom to consider issues of media plurality. In July 2011 it was reported that around this time News Corp's News International subsidiary had "bullied" the Liberal Democrats. "The Observer" said that "According to one account from a senior party figure, a cabinet minister was told that, if the government did not do as NI wanted,