BSkyB shares dive as Murdoch looks to save bid

LONDON — Shares in BSkyB plunged on Monday amid a phone hacking scandal endangering a multi-billion-dollar bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for control of the British pay-TV company.BSkyB stock slumped to 693 pence from 750 pence at the close on Friday, a drop of 7.6 percent. It recovered slightly by mid-day to 705 pence, a drop of six percent.Shares in the satellite broadcaster slumped below the 700-pence a share offer price made by News Corp. last year for the 61 percent of BSkyB it does not own.BSkyB's shares were tumbling on Monday as Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg urged media baron Murdoch to scrap his bid for BSkyB amid the hacking scandal.Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was due to address parliament on his decision to ask for new advice on BSkyB in a statement due at 1530 GMT.Murdoch is in London to take personal charge of a situation that has caused the closure at the weekend of the News of the World tabloid newspaper, owned by News Corp.'s News International division.Should the British government decide to wave through the deal, BSkyB still needs to agree on a price.The broadcaster, which has a portfolio including live English Premier League football and blockbuster films, is holding out for more than the £7.8 billion ($12.5 billion, 8.6 billion euros) offered by News Corp. last year.BSkyB wants an offer in excess of 800 pence a share, while the stock closed at 850 pence on July 4, mirroring the intraday level on June 30. The share price has thus dived by as much as 18 percent in just one week, in turn knocking £2.75 billion off the group's value.Analysts said the share price plunge reflected prospects that the deal may be scrapped."Investors hate uncertainty and with the markets racketing up BSkyB's share price over the last few months on expectations of a successful bid coming through, that uncertainty is convincing investors to cash out their gains en masse in case that deal never comes through," said Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index trading group.The News of

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