Amstrad supplied about
30% of the set-top boxes purchased by Sky last year for use by its
pay-TV customers.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it would examine whether
the deal would result in a "substantial lessening of competition"
within the market.
Sky is already facing a competition probe into its stake in
rival ITV.
The OFT has the power to
recommend a full Competition Commission inquiry into Sky's deal
with Amstrad, due to be completed later this year.
The Competition Commission, in turn, has the power to
potentially block the deal.
The purchase of Amstrad, a computer and electronic hardware
firm, would provide BSkyB with an in-house capability to design and
develop products vital to its customers.
BSkyB is the largest pay-TV operator in the UK, with more than
8.6 million subscribers.
At the time the deal was
announced earlier this month, Amstrad chairman and founder Sir Alan
Sugar – who also stars in BBC's The Apprentice show – said he
could not imagine a "better home" for his firm than with Sky.
Shares in Pace Micro, one of Amstrad's rivals in the set-top
market for digital TV, fell sharply after the deal was
announced.
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