The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), formerly the IRTC, has sanctioned Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) takeover of Today FM.
The deal is said to be worth €60 million. Last year SRH signalled its intention to buyout the 76 per cent stake in the station which it did not own.
The company’s plans to assume full ownership of the State’s only national broadcaster were held up by the regulator - then known as the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) - because of media-ownership rules.
SRH already owns Downtown Radio and Cool FM in Northern Ireland and Morton newspapers which owns a number of Northern titles.
In 1998, it bought The Leitrim Observerand later acquired Ireland On Sundayand The Kilkenny People Group which owns The Kilkenny People, The Tipperary Starand The Nationalist & Munster Advertiser, making it the second-largest regional newspaper group in Ireland.
Last September, the Competition Authority urged the newly formed successor to the IRTC, the Broadcast Commission of Ireland (BCI) to ease regulations on cross-media ownership.
After Ulster TV was allowed, after much deliberation, to buy all the shares of County Sound in Cork it became likely that SRH would eventually be allowed buy Today FM.
The company bought its initial shareholding when the station, then known as Radio Ireland, was in financial trouble. It organised a relaunch and rebranding of the station in 1998.