4 June 2015: Written press
The Autorité de la concurrence clears, subject to conditions,
the acquisition of Les Journaux du Midi by La Dépêche du Midi.
The La Dépêche du Midi Group is mainly active in the South/South-West of France, with the publication of the following regional daily press titles: La Dépêche du Midi, La Nouvelle République des Pyrénées and Le Petit Bleu de Lot-et-Garonne. It has notified to the Autorité de la concurrence its proposed acquisition of the Journaux du Midi Group, which publishes the following regional daily press titles: Midi Libre, L’Indépendant and Centre Presse.
Competition concerns identified
The Autorité de la concurrence found that the transaction would put the La Depeche du Midi Group in a monopoly position in the markets for the regional daily press in the Aude and Aveyron departments.
While the transaction does not pose a risk of raising prices in these two French departments, it may, however, result in the homogenisation of the titles’ content. This would be to the detriment of readers, who would bear the brunt of a reduction in quality and diversity of regional daily newspapers.
To address these concerns, the La Depêche du Midi group committed not to proceed with the harmonisation of its titles’ content, to maintain a distinct, dedicated editorial board for each title and to continue distributing all its regional daily press titles in the Aude and Aveyron departments.
An independent trustee, approved by the Authority, will be responsible for ensuring that these commitments are fully complied with.
> Press contact: Rebecca Hébert - Tel: + 33 (0)1 55 04 01 81 - Email