The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission said today it has cleared the purchase by Formpress Publishing of D&D Media.
The deal is now subject to further approval by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.
D&D Media are the owners of the Inishowen Independent newspaper in Donegal and its website inishowenindo.ie.
Formpress Publishing is a subsidiary of Iconic Newspapers and the company operates more than 20 local news titles, including 'The Limerick Leader', 'The Dundalk Democrat' and 'The Leinster Leader'.
The purchase deal was first announced in April and was then notified to the CCPC.
The CCPC decided in August that a full investigation was needed to see whether the proposed deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the State.
Following this examination, the CCPC said it has determined that the proposed transaction will not substantially lessen competition.
