Media News - Monday, March 31, 2008

Ireland to review media merger laws - minister

The Irish government is setting up an advisory group to review legislation governing media mergers, Minister Micheal Martin for enterprise, trade and employment said in a statement on Sunday. The Observer newspaper reported that Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien plans to buy Dublin-based newspaper owner Independent News & Media and sell its loss-making UK title, The Independent. O'Brien has criticised IN&M's management harshly in the past year, alleging cronyism at the company which is dominated by the O'Reilly family, who in turn branded O'Brien a ‘dissident shareholder’ on Thursday. Executive Chairman Anthony O'Reilly owns almost 27 percent of the company and his son Gavin is chief operating officer. O'Brien owns 21 percent of the group. The company has argued that the rules that prevent individuals or companies from owning large cross-holdings in print and radio needed to be tightened, the Irish Examiner newspaper said. The Department of Enterprise however denied that its inquiry had been spurred by IN&M's actions, adding that it had been planning the announcement for weeks, the Irish Times reported. (Reuters)

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