LONDON (AP) — Broadcaster Sky says it may shut down its British news operation if it is a hurdle to regulatory approval of 21st Century Fox's takeover bid.

The statement comes in a submission to Britain's competition regulator as the agency begins an investigation into whether Fox's plan to buy the 61 percent of Sky it doesn't already own would give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much control over the country's media.

Sky Plc says regulators should not assume it will continue to provide a news service because the company would probably review the operation "in the event that the continued provision of Sky News in its current form unduly impeded" the merger.

Murdoch withdrew a previous bid for Sky in 2012 amid fallout from the phone hacking scandal.