The Investigation Process
The CMA has set a deadline of March 28 for the phase one of the inquiry, during which interested parties are invited to provide comments by February 15. Both Daily Mail and General Holdings and News Corp U.K. & Ireland have acknowledged the CMA’s investigation. However, they have refrained from commenting further due to the ongoing regulatory review.
The Proposed Joint Venture
On October 3, the companies announced their plans to establish a joint venture to manage the combined print operations of News U.K. and DMG Media. They believe that now is the opportune time to improve the efficiency of their print operations. Should the merger be approved, the newly formed company, referred to as NewCo, would be responsible for printing over three million newspapers each night and almost 22 million per week.
About News Corp
News Corp is the parent company of Dow Jones & Co., well-known for publishing The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.