A £44.8m deal was agreed between the two publishing giants in February and completed in March. At the centre of the arrangement, GMG's Reading print facility was taken over by Trinity.

It had been unclear whether the OFT would investigate the deal and refer it to the Competition Commission, despite several major newspaper publishers pushing for a relaxation of competition laws to allow them to consolidate.

However, a statement from the organisation said: "The OFT has decided, on the information currently available to it, not to refer the following merger to the Competition Commission under the provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002."

This confirms that Trinity will acquire two regional businesses from GMG: MEN Media and Surrey and Berkshire Media (S&B Media). MEN Media publishes titles in the North West of the country, including the Manchester Evening News.

S&B Media publishes 10 titles in the South, including the Surrey Advertiser and the Reading Post. Two of S&B's other local newspapers in Woking will not be acquired.

It is understood that GMG's Reading facility will continue to print the titles, but speculation is already mounting that they could be moved to Trinity's flagship Watford site.