Today the Bundeskartellamt cleared the takeover of two regional dailies (Hamburger Abendblatt and Berliner Morgenpost), several advertising newspapers and the women's magazines segment of Axel Springer AG by the media group Funke Mediengruppe. The planned takeover of Springer's TV programme magazines and the creation of two joint ventures in the areas of marketing and distribution are still being examined.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "By splitting up the original merger project into four individual projects it was possible to quickly clear the takeover of the regional dailies in Berlin and Hamburg and the two women's magazines Bild der Frau and Frau von heute as their takeover did not raise any competition concerns. The remaining projects will be examined within a new period of a maximum of four months, starting with the receipt of their notification."

Funke Mediengruppe has so far not been active on the newspaper markets in Berlin and Hamburg which is why the merger does not raise any competition concerns on these markets. In the women's magazines segment, Funke Mediengruppe will increase its market shares on the reader and advertising markets with the takeover of the Springer magazines, but will still be exposed to substantial competition.