Regional daily Westfälische Nachrichten can take over Münstersche Zeitung
01.09.2014
The Bundeskartellamt has cleared plans by the Münster-based publishing house Aschendorff Verlag (which publishes Westfälische Nachrichten) to acquire the regional daily Münstersche Zeitung. The daily is sold by the Dortmund-based publishing house Medienhaus Lensing (which also publishes the daily Ruhr-Nachrichten). Münstersche Zeitung includes the local newspaper editions printed in Münster, Steinfurt and Greven.
Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "With the merger Aschendorff gains, or comes close to, a monopolistic position on the reader and advertising markets affected. Under the failing firm defence, however, a merger can be cleared in spite of the creation of a monopoly if the target company faces insolvency on account of its economic difficulties, its market position would then fall to the acquiring company in any case, and if there is no alternative purchaser. The Bundeskartellamt had initiated intense investigations even before the merger was notified and was able to verify that the conditions for a failing firm defence were met in this case
."
The case differs from a previous one which concerned seven local editions of the dailies Westfälische Rundschau and Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, where the notification was withdrawn (cf. press release of 25 July 2014). The daily involved in this case (Münstersche Zeitung) that goes back historically to the publishing house Fahle Verlag, could be sufficiently differentiated in economic and organisational terms from the business area of Medienhaus Lensing, which is why the principles of the failing firm defence applied.