Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has offered the EU specific commitments in a bid to smooth over concerns raised by its proposed takeover of BSkyB.

In response, the European Commission has extended its deadline for the first phase of its inquiry by 10 days, to 22 December.

No details have been released and a spokeswoman said that News Corp is “continuing to work constructively” with the European Commission.

News Corp, who is wanting to shift to full ownership of Sky from its 39.1% stake, is not thought to have offered to sell any of its assets.

Sky rebuffed News Corp’s original approach in June, holding out for at least 800p a share instead of the 700p that was offered.

However, the two companies agreed to work together in addressing any competition and media plurality issues with News Corp announcing it would bid with the commission in November.

Business secretary Vince Cable then called on Ofcom for an inquiry into the takeover’s effect on media plurality in the UK.

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