A FEE of £4,000 will be charged for the notification of mergers and takeovers, following the signing of regulations by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton. The regulation come into effect on January 1st 1997.

Provision was made in the Competition (Amendment) Act, 1996, for the Minister to prescribe fees. Written notification of proposed mergers or takeovers, setting out details, is required under section 5 of the Mergers, Takeovers and Monopolies (Control) Act, 1978. The legislation applies where the value of the gross assets or turnover of each of the two or more enterprises involved is not less than £10 million or £20 million respectively and, regardless of size, where one of the enterprises involved is a newspaper or magazine.