ITC Rules On United News & Media Merger With MAI

The ITC has decided that the merger between United News and Media plc and MAI plc, which brought into common ownership UN&M’s newspaper interests and MAI’s ITV companies, could not be expected to operate against the public interest.

The two groups merged last year, *Media Merger Go Ahead, but the merger was not considered under cross-media legislation until new rules introduced by the 1996 Broadcasting Act became operative on 1 November 1996.

In reaching this conclusion, the ITC considered plurality of ownership, diversity of information sources available to the public, relevant economic benefits and the effect on the operation of the broadcasting and newspaper markets.

The ITC did not believe that there were grounds on which to consider that the completed merger would not satisfy the public interest test.

The ITC was worried about UN&M/MAI’s holding of local free newspapers which circulate within the Anglia region. The ITC concluded, on the facts as they are at present, that the overlap in this case was not significant.

The decision does not prevent the Commission considering the public interest in the future in the event of United News and Media acquiring other newspapers which circulate within the Anglia or Meridian television regions.

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