A Competition Commission (CC) report published this morning (Thursday 29 July) found that the acquisition of the Essex, London and Kent titles by the local newspaper group would "not give rise to significant competition concerns."

When completed, the deal will bring INM titles including the East London Advertiser and the Islington Gazette into the Archant stable.

Archant chief executive John Fry said: "We are pleased that our new colleagues based in London can now look forward to stability after more than a year of uncertainty."

CC deputy chairman Peter Freeman said that there was "insufficient evidence to establish that Archant would have sufficient market power profitably to raise prices by an amount that would cause concern, either across the board or on a targeted basis."

The case was referred to the CC by the Office of Fair Trading on 29 April this year. INM received 57m from Archant for the titles at that time, with the final 5m due when the deal was approved by the CC.

The provisional findings published today are subject to an industry consultation before the deal is rubber-stamped. Anyone wishing to object to the CC's conclusions has until 3 September to do so.

Story by Josh Brooks