Minister for Creative Industries, Media and the Arts (): The Enterprise Act 2002 (Mergers
Involving Newspaper Enterprises and Foreign Powers) (No. 2)
Regulations 2025(opens in a new tab) were debated and
approved by Parliament in December 2025, and came into force on
31 January 2026.
They amended the exceptions for state-owned investors in the
Foreign State Influence regime in the Enterprise Act 2002 to
provide that if a state-owned investor acquires a direct holding
of more than 5% of the shares or voting rights in a newspaper (up
to a maximum of 15%), they must notify the Secretary of State and
publish certain details on a website before the end of a period
of 14 days beginning with the date of the relevant acquisition in
order to qualify for the exception.
When the regulations were laid before Parliament, I made a
Written Statement(opens in a new
tab) which set out the Secretary of State's commitment to
sharing a statement every six months on the details which
state-owned investors have published about their investments
pursuant to the regulation.
Since 31 January 2026, the Secretary of State has received no
notifications of acquisitions resulting in a state-owned investor
holding more than 5% in a UK newspaper directly.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will continue to
publish statements every six months to maintain transparency
around state-owned investment in newspapers, and to build public
and parliamentary confidence in this regime. The next statement
is due in January 2027.
