Authority approves merger of 'Metro' and 'Herald AM'

THE COMPETITION Authority has approved a deal that will result in the merger of Dublin freesheet newspapers Metro and Herald AM.

The authority yesterday cleared a transaction that will involve The Irish TimesLtd, DMG Ireland Holdings Ltd and Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd acquiring equal stakes in Fortunegreen Ltd, which currently publishes the Metro freesheet.

The three media companies intend to publish a single freesheet called Metro Herald.

Metro and Herald AM, which were launched in late 2005 and are both loss-making, will then cease to be published.

The deal is subject to the approval of Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan. She has 30 days from yesterday’s determination to make a decision.

The deal was notified to the authority on July 17th. It decided on August 27th to proceed to a detailed phase-two investigation.

The authority has stipulated three conditions to its approval of the transaction, which it said the media companies had agreed to implement. Fortunegreen will operate Metro Herald as an independent competitor of the newspapers owned by the three shareholders. The management of Fortunegreen will also make decisions without requiring the approval of shareholders or their board representatives. In addition, the directors nominated to the board of Fortunegreen must not have day-to-day responsibility for the advertising function of any newspaper sold in the greater Dublin area where Metro Herald will operate.

Fortunegreen was owned by DMGT, The Irish Timesand Swedish publisher Metro International, which is exiting its investment. DMGT is the publisher of the Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Mail on Sunday.

Liam Kavanagh, deputy managing director of The Irish Times, said: "We are very pleased that this transaction has been approved. There are a number of plans around the branding of the newspaper that are being worked on for the relaunch of the paper. This [the relaunch] will happen once ministerial approval has been received."

Metro Herald will be based in Ballsbridge and printed by The Irish Timesat its Citywest plant.

The authority said it would publish the full text of its determination on December 4th.