JEP/Bailiwick Express merger approved by Jersey competition regulator

The proposed merger of the Jersey Evening Post and Bailiwick Express has gone through, after receiving the island's competition regulator and the necessary contracts being signed.

A new combined media holdings company, MH Limited, has been formed to oversee both titles.

It is owned by Bailiwick Express' existing shareholders and board members, but a new 'Employee Benefit Trust' is being set up to give staff a stake in the business.

The JEP's Managing Director, Matt Ross, says the deal is 'a positive new chapter' for the titles and explained how it will work:

"As part of an ongoing plan to broaden our local ownership, we will make a portion of the shares in the new business available to our staff. The media industry internationally is going through a period of massive change, with a number of global factors severely impacting local operations; we believe that firstly uniting with a complementary business, and then broadening our local ownership is the best way to secure our successful future."

Bailiwick Express co-founder, James Filleul, says both titles will still be published, with each retaining its own 'editorial voice':

"Since we announced the merger, perhaps the most common feedback has been from islanders wanting to make sure both news brands will remain. We understand that – one of the main reasons we are coming together is to make sure that actually happens.

"A strong, well-resourced, local newsroom is hard to sustain in the current media environment, which has very significant recruitment and commercial pressures. But it is essential. Bringing the JEP's team together with Express will allow us to do that, and deliver the journalism which really matters to people, while also combining our digital knowledge and experience."