BSkyB Offers To Give Up Votes On Three Percent ITV Share

BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) is making its first gambit in response to the recent Competition Commission ruling the 17.9 percent stake it took in ITV (LSE: ITV) last November is anti-competitive. The satellite network, broadband and website operator has proposed given control of a three percent to an independent trustee. Telegraph.co.uk: “The trustee, most likely a company specialising in managing investments, would be allowed to vote the shares in whichever way they chose, without regard to the wishes of the Sky board.” Question is, will that be enough? The proposal still leaves BSkyB with a direct 14.9 percent voting stake in ITV, and regulators may still regard that as too much. Update: Predictably, Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) doesn’t think it goes far enough, telling Telegraph.co.uk: “We would advocate a complete sell-down to avoid conflicts of interest.”