§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what are his reasons for reopening consideration of the proposed takeover of T. Bailey Forman Ltd. following the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report of October 1994;
(2) on how many occasions in the last five years companies have been allowed to make representations for reconsideration of a recommendation following a report on a takeover proposal from the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
§ Mr. EggarIt is the role of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission to provide advice to Ministers on the proposed transfer of newspaper titles. The final570W decision as to whether to give consent to such transfers is for Ministers to make.
In publishing the MMC report on the proposed transfer of the newspaper titles of T. Bailey Forman on 31 October I announced that I accepted the MMC adverse findings and that I would refuse consent unless satisfactory conditions could be agreed by 5 December. I invited third party comments on such conditions by 21 November.
The last time that Ministers consulted interested parties about conditions to attach consent to a newspaper transfer was in February 1989 following the MMC report on the proposed acquisition by EMAP plc of shares in TR Beckett Ltd.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions in the past five years unanimous recommendations on takeover proposals from the Monopolies and Mergers Commission have been subsequently overturned.