Independent’s sale of London titles hits delay
The Competition Commission published a list of issues to examine before allowing INM to complete the sale to British media group Archant.
INM first announced details of the €90 million sale in December. It had previously failed to sell the titles earlier in 2003 after objections from the Competition Commission. The commission ruled at the time that Newsquest, a British media group that had been lined up to buy the titles from INM, would not be allowed to take control of all of the newspapers concerned.
The commission’s statement yesterday said it planned to examine “the extent to which Archant and INM competed” for customers looking to advertise in the London regional press. It will also look into the effect of the sale on future competition in the market and whether prices would go up or the “range, quality or level of services” would be reduced after completion of the sale.
The commission also left open the possibility that the London regional market would benefit from the transaction as a result of the strengthening of Archant’s position.
Yesterday’s statement invited interested parties to comment on the sale process before June 15 and asked them to bring additional points to the commission’s attention. “The Competition Commission has reached no conclusions about whether the acquisition has resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition; and will not do so until after it has discussed these issues with the parties concerned,” the statement said.
The commission also said it would give special attention to the structure of the deal, which allowed INM sell some newspapers at the same time as granting an option to Archant to buy further titles. This meant that the transfer of newspapers fell either side of a change in British law governing newspaper mergers.
The commission is obliged to issue its final report on the transaction before October 13.
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