The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has today issued a "formal invitation to comment" from "interested parties" over BskyB's 17.9% stake in ITV.

The OFT says any views will be looked at in considering whether the merger will "result in a substantial lessening of competition within any markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services that warrants reference to the Competition Commission."

A deadline of January 25 has been given by the OFT. ITV said it would respond to the OFT in due course.

Last month, Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan backed NTL shareholder Sir Richard Branson's request that the merger deal be investigated by Ofcom and the OFT. NTL was considering a takeover bid for ITV at the time.