Remedies varied

Secretary of State case Variation of the 1981 conditions relating to The Times and The Sunday Times: News Corp / The Times

The United Kingdom Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport varied the remedies attached to News Corp's acquisition of The Times on 23 July 2019 (case Variation of the 1981 conditions relating to The Times and The Sunday Times).^[1]

News UK applied in January 2019 to replace the 1981 conditions, arguing that the requirement to keep each title's journalistic resources entirely separate no longer made sense in a shrinking newspaper market. After two rounds of consultation the Secretary of State accepted undertakings on 23 July 2019 allowing the two papers to share journalists where both editors agree, while keeping the separate editors and the independent national directors. It is one of the few places in this dataset where a remedy imposed on a 1981 acquisition was still being renegotiated four decades later.

Decision facts

Regulator: United Kingdom Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (GB)
Case number: Variation of the 1981 conditions relating to The Times and The Sunday Times
Decision: Remedies varied
Decided: 23 July 2019
Legal basis: Enterprise Act 2002 public interest regime (newspapers and broadcasting); previously Fair Trading Act 1973 ss.57-62

Remedies

behavioural The Times — Undertakings replacing the 1981 conditions: the titles may share journalists where both editors agree, with the separate-editor and independent-director protections retained.

The deal under review

Acquisition closed Closed 13 February 1981

News Corp acquires The Times

News International, the British arm of Rupert Murdoch's group and now News UK, bought The Times and The Sunday Times from the Thomson Organisation after a year in which industrial disputes had suspended publication. Newspaper transfers needed the Secretary of State for Trade's consent under the Fair Trading Act 1973, and the consent came with binding conditions that still shape how the two titles are run.

Value: Undisclosed
Buyer: News Corp
Seller: —
Regulatory: Cleared with remedies; Remedies varied

Sources (1) & corrections

Last verified 23 July 2019. Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.

[1] Notice of acceptance of undertakings given by News Corp UK & Ireland Ltd to vary the 1981 conditions — Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Regulator decision, published 23 July 2019; retrieved 16 September 2026.

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