BSkyB's stake in ITV under threat
Virgin Media launches legal challenge
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Rival Virgin Media is launching a legal challenge arguing that the satcaster should give up its entire 17.9% holding.
The U.K. government has already said BSkyB must scale down its ITV stake to below 7.5%, a move that the paybox is appealing against.
Virgin Media, the New York-listed cable company, said that only a full disposal of the ITV stake would address U.K. competition and plurality issues.
In a statement it said: "While Virgin Media strongly supports the Competition Commission's conclusions that the acquisition has led to a substantial lessening of competition, it is appealing the Competition Commission's recommendation that a reduction of BSkyB's stake in ITV to 7.5% is adequate to address this problem."
This is the first time the media plurality provisions of the 2003 Enterprise Act have been tested and Virgin Media believes the Competition Commission has made errors in interpreting and applying them.
BSkyB bought the ITV stake for around $1.8 billion in November 2006 to derail Virgin's plans to buy ITV.
It's facing the prospect of losing up to $500 million in an enforced sale because of a dramatic fall in the value of ITV stock.
