Antitrust conditional OK to Espresso-Itedi deal (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 9 - The Antitrust authority on Thursday gave a conditional green light to the purchase by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, which owns La Repubblica daily and l'Espresso weekly, of Italiana Editrice (Itedi), which owns La Stampa daily and Genoa daily Secolo XIX. The authority said the buyer must sell off the advertising business of La Repubblica's Genoa and Turin editions. The deal combining two of Italy's top-selling dailies, La Repubblica and La Stampa, has been criticised by rivals such as Corriere della Sera as concentrating too much media assets in one group.