The Daily Mail & General Trust has failed to overturn a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading that one of its Scottish newspaper divisions was guilty of predatory pricing against a rival.
The OFT ruled last September that Aberdeen Journals, owned by DMGT subsidiary Northcliffe Newspapers, had been guilty of anti-competitive conduct (see
Northcliffe Receives £1.3m Fine For Predatory Pricing). It was alleged that advertising prices had been slashed in a bid to force the
Aberdeen and District Independent out of business.
Yesterday that decision was upheld by a Competition Appeal Tribunal which stated that the original ruling was based “on strong and compelling evidence and that Aberdeen Journals failed to raise reasonable doubts on the OFT’s analysis”.
The predatory pricing began in response to the launch of the Aberdeen & District Independent in 1996 and continued even after the Competition Act was introduced in March 2000. The tribunal did however reduce the fine to be paid by the publisher from £1.3 million to £1 million after hearing that the practice continued for only one month under the new law.
