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Government clears Trinity Mirror’s £127mln acquisition of Express and Star owner Northern & Shell

Published: 07:56 20 Jun 2018 BST

uk newspapers
The merger brings titles such as the Daily Mirror, Sunday Express and New! Under the same roof

Trinity Mirror PLC’s (LON:TNI) £127mln acquisition of the Express and Star newspapers has been cleared by the UK government.

Media and culture secretary Matt Hancock’s decision creates the UK’s largest publishing group, which has rebranded itself as Reach PLC (LON:RCH).

READ: CMA kicks off investigation into Trinity Mirror's acquisition of Express and Star

Trinity Mirror agreed to buy out Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group for £127mln back in February, but media watchdog Ofcom had asked the Competition and Markets Authority to take a closer look over concerns that the tie-up could affect media plurality.

Based on the CMA’s initial findings, Hancock decided that no further investigation was needed.

“We welcome today's decision by the Secretary of State,” said Reach chief executive Simon Fox.

“Today we are two successful separate news organisations, but together we will be stronger and better able to compete and adapt to the challenging conditions in which we operate.”

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