The sale of the Folkestone Herald and Dover Express will not be going ahead after the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) decided  today (18 October) to refer the Kent Messenger Group's proposed acquisition to the competition commission.

In view of the referral the KM Group has now decided to withdraw its bid.

KM Group chairman, Geraldine Allinson said: "The costs and time required for a full competition commission review would be completely unreasonable for a business of our size and for a deal of this scale."

The Northcliffe Media titles which would have been affected by the proposed acquisition included the Medway News, East Kent Gazette, Herne Bay and Whitstable Times, Isle of Thanet Gazette, Thanet Times, Folkestone Herald and Dover Express.

By consolidating the two newspaper portfolios, it would have substantially enhanced KM's control of print and online news outlets across the county of Kent.

Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2011©