Government ‘minded to’ intervene in Newsquest’s acquisition of Archant

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it has written to Newsquest Media Group and Archant Community Media, informing them that the Secretary of State is ‘minded to’ issue an Intervention Notice on the recent acquisition of Archant by Newsquest.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries in a written statement to the parliament said the acquisition could raise public interest considerations, as set out in section 58 of Enterprise Act 2002, namely the ‘need for, to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable, a sufficient plurality of views in newspapers in each market for newspapers in the United Kingdom or a part of the United Kingdom.’

“It is important to note that I have not taken a final decision on intervention at this stage. In line with the statutory guidance on media mergers, the ‘minded to’ letter invites further representations in writing from the parties and gives them until 29 April to respond. I will then make my final decision, which needs to be made on a quasi-judicial basis, on whether to issue an Intervention Notice,” Dorries said in the statement.

If Dorries decides to issue an Intervention Notice, the next stage would be for Ofcom to assess and report on the public interest concerns and for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess and report on whether a relevant merger situation has been created and any impact this may have on competition.

Following these reports, the culture secretary will decide whether to refer the matter for a more detailed investigation by the CMA under section 45 of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Regional news publisher Newsquest has last month announced the acquisition of rival group Archant from Rcapital, a private investment firm.

Archant owns a portfolio of local news brands principally in East Anglia, and also publishes a portfolio of regional County Life magazines. Newsquest, owned by US news publisher Gannett Inc, is one of the largest regional news publishers in the UK with a portfolio of more than 120 news brands and 29 magazines online and in print.