Murdoch to use media rules to seize BSkyB?

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation could use media merger guidelines issued six years ago to wrest control of BskyB after the Government's intervention in the deal.

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has referred News Corp's £7.8bn bid for the remaining 60.9 per cent stake in the satellite-TV company to regulator Ofcom.

Media mergers fall under 2004 Department for Trade and Industry guidelines which state that in "cross-media" mergers, the public interest intervention test should determine if a deal significantly concentrates media ownership in too few hands. But News Corporation already owns a 39 per cent stake of BskyB and as the largest shareholder, in effect, has control already.

Murdoch (left, with Homer Simpson) can argue that assumption of a 100 per cent ownership does not affect the "plurality of persons test".

BSkyB shares closed at 720p on Friday, up 8.5p on start of day's trading.