Minister for Communications Denis Naughten will not consider the acquisition of several local newspapers by Independent News & Media (INM) until the middle of next month, his spokeswoman has confirmed.
Under 2014 legislation the proposed acquisition must be approved first by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on competition grounds and then by the Minister on media diversity grounds. The competition verdict was due to be delivered on October 28th but has been postponed until November 11th after further information regarding the transaction was requested by the regulators.
The proposed deal would see INM gain control of seven regional newspapers including the Anglo-Celt in Cavan, the Meath Chronicle and the Connaught Telegraph.
INM already owns a number of local newspapers including the Fingal Independent, the Kerryman, the Sligo Champion, the Wexford People and the Bray People, as well as the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent, the Herald, the Sunday World and 50 per cent of the Irish Daily Star.
If the competition commission approves the deal on the basis that it does not threaten competition in the newspaper market, the matter will pass to the Minister who must consider the impact on media diversity.
According to the department’s guidelines on media mergers, ministers must “not only examine the ownership and control structure of the media businesses that are party to the merger but will also have regard to other relevant media assets”.
Radio stations
Denis O’Brien, the largest shareholder in INM, is also the owner of Communicorp, which controls a number of radio stations, including Newstalk and Today FM.
According to a note about the 2014 legislation published by the Department of Communications, “it is undesirable to allow any one media business or individual to hold excessive significant interests within a sector or particularly across different sectors of media businesses in the State.
“The objective of this new legislation is the pursuit of the public interest to protect and promote a diverse media, both in terms of ownership and content.”
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has opposed the deal and asked the commission to block it. The union says INM should not be allowed to further expand its newspaper stable, given its current dominant position in the market.
In particular, the NUJ says the authority cannot view the takeover as simply affecting regional newspapers, but must look at the media market as a whole, where Mr O’Brien enjoys an even larger market share by virtue of his radio and online interests.
