A British minister voiced concern about a phone-hacking scandal at News Corp's (NWSA.O) UK newspaper arm but said it would not affect his decision on the company's planned buyout of BSkyB (BSY.L). Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid reversed course this month and admitted its role in a long-running phone hacking scandal that was viewed as possibly jeopardising News Corp's planned $14 billion purchase of pay-TV group BSkyB. Asked in parliament if he would postpone his decision on the merger until a criminal probe into phone hacking was over, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "The decision I have to take with respect to the Sky merger is about media plurality and we are in the process of taking that decision." "But I am very concerned about the news to do with phone hacking. It is a criminal offence," he said.
News Corporation is a diversified global media company. Shares of NWSA remained unchanged at $17.75. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $11.61 and as high as $18.11. On average, 15770400 shares of NWSA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1194497.
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