The Competition Commission yesterday sent a report to John Hutton, the business secretary, recommending that Sky reduces its stake to just below 10%, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.
The satellite broadcaster is hoping that the Commission will give it up to a year to reduce its holding.
Sky fears that dumping a large chunk of equity on the market would trigger a sharp fall in the share price of its holding in ITV, which has already plummeted. Shares in ITV are trading at 31.25p this morning. They were trading at more than 120p in 2006.
Sky bought its stake for £940m in November 2006 in a bid to prevent a takeover of ITV by Virgin Media.
The holding is now worth just £593m. If Sky is forced to reduce its stake to 9.9%, it will lose some £150m.
Hutton now has 30 days to decide what should happen to Sky's stake.
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