The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lucy Frazer)
My Department has today written respectively to Lloyds Banking Group (via Bank of Scotland plc), the Barclay family and RedBird IMI—the current and proposed new owners of Telegraph Media Group—to inform them that I am “minded to” issue a public interest intervention notice. This relates to concerns I have that there may be public interest considerations—as set out in section 58 of the Enterprise Act 2002—that are relevant to the intended loan repayment by the Barclay family and the planned acquisition of Telegraph Media Group by RedBird IMI, and that these concerns warrant further investigation.
Accordingly, a “minded to” letter has been issued to each of the parties on the following public interest grounds specified in section 58 of the Enterprise Act 2002:
(2A) The need for:
(a) accurate presentation of news and
(b) free expression of opinion
in newspapers;
(2B) The need for, to the extent it is reasonable and practicable, a sufficient plurality of views in newspapers in each market for newspapers in the United Kingdom or a part of the United Kingdom; and
(2C) (a) The need, in relation to every different audience in the United Kingdom or in a particular area or locality of the United Kingdom, for there to be a sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprises serving that audience.
These letters, and other relevant updates, will be published on www.gov.uk.
It is important to note that I have not taken a final decision on intervention at this stage. The “minded to” letter invites further representations in writing from the parties and gives them until 3 pm on 23 November to respond.
If I decide to issue an intervention notice, the next stage would be for Ofcom to assess and report to me on the public interest concerns, and for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess and report to me on whether a relevant merger situation has been created and any impact this may have on competition. Following these reports, I would need to decide whether to refer the matter for a more detailed investigation by the CMA under section 45 of the Enterprise Act 2002.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will keep Parliament updated on progress with this case.
[HCWS60]