The purchase of the Irish Examiner by The Irish Times after a so-called phase-two probe can go ahead without any conditions, the competition regulator has said.

The Irish Times DAC and the owners of Landmark Media Investments have signed a share purchase agreement whereby The Irish Times will acquire all of the publishing and media interests of the Landmark Media group.

In yesterday’s statement to staff, Landmark Media Investment Ltd, owners and publishers of this newspaper confirmed for the first time that they are in advanced negotiations to conclude the sale of the group to an “experienced company operating in the industry”.

A provisional liquidator has been appointed by the High Court to the publisher of four weekly newspapers and associated websites in Co Wexford.

A total of 26% of people who took part in a major digital news survey use Landmark Media titles breakingnews.ie and irishexaminer.com for online news, according to the Digital News Report for 2015.