Johnston Press is to sell the assets of magazine Farm Week, after the Office of Fair Trading raised concerns over the group’s ownership of the title.

The weekly title was included in Johnston’s purchase of Score Press Limited last year, but when the publisher later bought the Local Press group it also acquired Farming Life – making it the owner of the two biggest titles of their type in Northern Ireland.

This prompted competition concerns from the OFT, which Johnston Press said it would resolve by selling Farm Week – and it has now entered into an agreement with Farm Week Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Irish News Ltd.

The OFT had said that if Johnston were to keep both farming titles it would result in a substantial lessening of competition.

Under the terms of the agreement the assets of Farm Week will be acquired by Farm Week Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

Gross assets including the value of publishing titles involved in the transaction are £3m.

The sale is subject to approval by the OFT. Do you have a story about the regional press?
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