Tribune’s Bid for California Papers Temporarily Halted

Source: Bloomberg

Tribune Publishing Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, was temporarily blocked by a judge from acquiring newspaper publisher Freedom Communications Inc. after the U.S said the combination would create a monopoly in southern California.

U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. in Los Angeles issued a temporary restraining order Friday after the U.S. government sued to prevent the deal. The Justice Department said this week that Tribune would dominate newspaper sales in two counties, allowing it to increase subscription costs and raise advertising rates.

The U.S. government “has established a likelihood of success” in the case, the judge said while ordering further legal argument before deciding whether to permanently halt the transaction. The U.S. said Tribune’s acquisition of Freedom’s Orange County Register and Riverside Press-Enterprise would more than double its control of English-language daily newspaper circulation to 98 percent in Orange County and provide an almost sevenfold boost to 81 percent in Riverside County.

“Such a concentration clearly constitutes a threat to competition and would likely have adverse effects on consumers in the market as a whole,” Birotte wrote in an 11-page order.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-19/tribune-s-bid-for-california-papers-temporarily-halted-by-judge