DealBook: News Corp. Deal For BSkyB in Limbo

News Corporation said Monday it was continuing its bid to purchase satellite TV company British Sky Broadcasting despite heightened political heat Rupert Murdoch's media empire faces stemming from the British phone hacking scandal.

Liberty Global’s $16 billion deal to buy British cable group Virgin Media will create one of the largest broadband companies in the world, and will pit Liberty mogul John Malone in a clash of the media titans against longtime rival Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. conglomerate. The deal is further evidence that the media and tech mergers and acquisitions market is revving up to levels not seen since the financial crisis. Earlier this week computer giant Dell announced plans to go private in a $24.4 billion deal. Virgin Media is the number two pay-TV company in the U.K.

Liberty Global’s $16 billion deal to buy British cable group Virgin Media will create one of the largest broadband companies in the world, and will pit Liberty mogul John Malone in a clash of the media titans against longtime rival Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. conglomerate. The deal is further evidence that the media and tech mergers and acquisitions market is revving up to levels not seen since the financial crisis. Earlier this week computer giant Dell announced plans to go private in a $24.4 billion deal. Virgin Media is the number two pay-TV company in the U.K.

James Desborough is arrested in London on suspicion of intercepting phone communications. His arrest is the 13th made in connection with the scandal that is rocking News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch's media empire.Another former News of the World editor has been arrested in the phone-hacking debacle that is rocking News Corp.

News Corp. has backed off of its plan to buy BSkyB, the powerful British satellite broadcasting company in which it holds a minority stake. The decision comes in the wake of a phone hacking scandal that has already led the Rupert Murdoch-owned media giant to shut down its British tabloid News of the World.

Reuters - British regulators could struggle to find new grounds to halt a proposed takeover of pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire, but lawyers say the multi-billion-dollar deal may face severe delays.

LONDON (Reuters) - British regulators could struggle to find new grounds to halt a proposed takeover of pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire, but lawyers say the multi-billion-dollar deal may face severe delays.

Dana Blankenhorn submits: James Murdoch, son of founding chairman Rupert Murdoch and heir-apparent as News Corp. (NWS) CEO, tried to put a line under the “phone hacking” scandal threatening his takeover of satellite broadcaster BskyB today by closing News of the World, the 168 year-old Sunday tabloid (and best-selling paper in Britain) at the heart of the scandal.