Secretary of State case Transfer of The Times and The Sunday Times to News International (Fair Trading Act 1973, s.58): News Corp / The Times
The United Kingdom Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport cleared, subject to remedies, News Corp's acquisition of The Times on 27 January 1981 (case Transfer of The Times and The Sunday Times to News International (Fair Trading Act 1973, s.58)).[1]
The Secretary of State for Trade consented to the transfer of The Times and The Sunday Times to News International without asking the Monopolies and Mergers Commission to report, on the basis that both papers were in financial difficulty. The consent carried conditions designed to protect the public interest in accurate reporting and free expression: the two titles were to remain separate, with separate editors, and independent national directors were written into the holding company's articles. Those 1981 conditions bound the papers for the next thirty-eight years.
Transfer of The Times and The Sunday Times to News International (Fair Trading Act 1973, s.58)
Decision
Cleared with remedies
Decided
Legal basis
Enterprise Act 2002 public interest regime (newspapers and broadcasting); previously Fair Trading Act 1973 ss.57-62
Remedies
behaviouralThe Times — The Times and The Sunday Times to continue as separate titles under separate editors, with ultimate control of each title's resources kept apart.
behaviouralThe Times — Times Newspapers Holdings articles amended to give six independent national directors a role in protecting editorial independence.
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.