OFT to probe Sky/Amstrad deal

The Office of Fair Trading is to look into the satellite broadcaster's recent acquisition of Sir Alan's Amstrad business.

Sky bought the electronics company for £125 million earlier this month. Amstrad supplies around 30% of Sky's digiboxes, and the business makes up 75% of Amstrad's revenue.

The regulator is to assess whether such a deal will result in a "substantial lessening of competition" within the market.

If it deems necessary, the OFT can advise the Competition Commission to complete a full investigation into the deal, and could potentially block its progress.

The commission is currently assessing Sky's 17.9% stake in broadcaster ITV, following media regulator Ofcom and the OFT advising the deal raised competition and public interest concerns.