Carlton Granada merger cleared, subject to undertakings

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has accepted the conclusions of the Competition Commission and the advice of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), that the proposed merger of Carlton Communications Plc and Granada Plc may be expected to operate against the public interest. She has decided that undertakings to remedy the adverse effects must be put in place before the merger can go ahead. She has asked the OFT, in concert with the ITC and Ofcom, to seek to obtain by 7 November 2003 undertakings from Carlton and Granada to implement a package of behavioural remedies recommended by the majority of the Competition Commission panel. Frontier advised Granada throughout the inquiry.Copies of the report "Carlton Communications Plc and Granada plc: A report on the proposed merger" is available from the CC website.