A Competition Appeal Tribunal has rejected an appeal brought by Virgin Media that would have forced Sky to sell the remainder of its stake in ITV plc. Virgin brought the action after last month’s ruling that BSkyB should reduce its stake in the commercial broadcaster to below 7.5%.
“We are of the view that for the Tribunal to remit the plurality issue to the Commission and the Secretary of State would serve no useful purpose, as whatever their findings on that issue there is no realistic prospect that an additional or different remedy would be recommended or imposed,” the tribunal said in its judgement.
The tribunal noted that ITV had not sought to participate in the proceedings directly and had said that the issues surrounding the appeal had continued uncertainty was a matter of commercial concern.
BSkyB now has a month in which it can appeal against the Competition Commission’s original ruling.
