FTC Clears Way for Village Voice-New Times Merger

Posted Monday, November 28, 2005 12:00 am

By: E&P Staff The Village Voice-New Times merger apparently will go through.

A report today in the Seattle Weekly, which is owned by the Voice, disclosed that the federal government has declined to intervene in the merger of the two chains, "clearing the way for the two companies to become one as soon as paperwork is complete."

In a routine notice on the Web site of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the merger was listed Wednesday, Nov. 23, as among proposed deals that neither the FTC's Bureau of Competition nor the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice would challenge, "based on paperwork filed by the two companies on Oct. 24, when the merger was announced," the Seattle Weekly reported.

The paper quoted Village Voice Media CEO David Schneiderman from an e-mail to employees Monday, Nov. 28: "We expect to close in about a month or so. The work on integrating the two companies will accelerate, but we will still be functioning as separate entities until the closing."

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FTC Clears Way for Village Voice-New Times Merger

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