The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a government entity that serves as a monopoly watchdog, announced that it will analyze the planned £50m deal by the owners of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday to buy rival newspaper the i, according to reports.
Officials at the CMA have started an investigation into the Daily Mail’s takeover of i to determine as to whether there are any potential regulatory issues or not. Both sides were expecting the watchdog’s intervention due to the size and nature of the deal.
CMA will start by launching an “initial enforcement order” where submissions will be received before deciding whether to move on to a formal phase one stage. It is very rare that a phase 2 will be launched.
Daily Mail is an operational big publishing house, whereas, i, launched in 2010, is a small, sister version of the Independent. According to DMGT, the i sells around 170,000 copies each weekday and 190,000 copies on Saturdays.
