United Kingdom Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport: how it reviews brand acquisitions

Newspaper and broadcasting mergers in the United Kingdom are decided by a government minister rather than by the competition authority alone. Under the Fair Trading Act 1973 the Secretary of State for Trade had to consent to any transfer of a newspaper above a size threshold, and could impose conditions or refer the transfer to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. The Enterprise Act 2002 replaced that with a public interest regime in which the Secretary of State may intervene on grounds of accurate presentation of news, free expression of opinion and media plurality, acting quasi-judicially on advice from the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom.

Official site: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-culture-media-and-sport · Regime: Enterprise Act 2002 public interest regime (newspapers and broadcasting); previously Fair Trading Act 1973 ss.57-62

A primer on this jurisdiction's merger regime is in preparation.