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In 1998 A-pressen ASA acquired all the shares in the local newspaper Lofot-Tidende. The acquisition was implemented before the Media Ownership Act of 13. June 1997 entered into force. In 1999 the Media Ownership Authority decided that A-pressen had to divest its ownership interest in the newspaper. A-pressen made a complaint to the Appeals Board for Media Ownership which upheld the decision.
In a judgement of 2 June 2003 the Supreme Court of Justice annulled the intervention against the acquisition. The Court found that there were no legal grounds for extending the time limit for intervention from six months to one year. The Court declared that this is an extensive intervention in business activities and that predictability is of major importance for established ownership positions. Predictability is even more important for acquisitions implemented before the Media Ownership Act entered into force, the Court declared. The Supreme Court therefore found that the time limit was expired and annulled the decision.
A link to the judgement is available (in Norwegian):
Last modified 2005-04-13 03:27