OFT clears Lebedev to buy Independent

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it would not investigate Alexander Lebedev’s move to take control of the Independent newspapers, ruling that competition issues do not apply

Lebedev, who owns 75% of the London Evening Standard, has reportedly been in discussions with the OFT over issues such as Independent News & Media's (INM )£35m printing contract and a deal around office space that the two companies share in Kensington.

Last month Lebedev, along with INM, lodged a submission with the Office of Fair Trading that began the process of verifying if any competition issues might stop the deal. The OFT requested comments by 11 March and has until 26 April to issue a ruling.

But today it announced that the Lebedev takeover of the Independent does not qualify for a competition investigation, because the deal does not reach the OFT limit of the merged company's UK turnover exceeding £70m or holding more than a 25% share of supply in the UK.

The outcome means the sale can go ahead without OFT obstructing it on competition grounds.

Source: Guardian

Published on: 17/03/2010 17:37:00