COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INC.;
and SHEARIN INC. d/b/a SHEARIN & COMPANY REALTORS,
PLAINTIFFS
v.
DONREY CORP. d/b/a DONREY MEDIA GROUP;
NAT, L.C.; THOMSON NEWSPAPERS, INC.; and
THE NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TIMES,
DEFENDANTS;
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
PLAINTIFF
v.
NAT, L.C. and D.R. PARTNERS d/b/a DONREY MEDIA GROUP,
DEFENDANTS
COMMUNITY PUBLRS., INC. v. DONREY CORP.
Civil No. 95-5026, Civil No. 95-5048
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF
ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE DIVISION
1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9514
June 30, 1995, Decided
June 30, 1995, FILED
COUNSEL: [*1] For Community Publishers, Shearin Inc., Plaintiffs:
Philip S. Anderson, Peter G. Kumpe, J. Leon Holmes, Jeanne L. Seewald,
Williams and Anderson, Little Rock, AR. Mr. Tom Burke, Burke & Eldridge,
Fayetteville, AR. For United States, Plaintiff: Anne K. Bingaman,
Constance K. Robinson, Craig W. Conrath, Allee A. Ramadhan; Phillip R.
Malone; Burney P.C. Huber; Nora W. Terres; Anne M. Purcell; Alexander Y.
Thomas; Brigid L. Kerrigan, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Larry McCord, Asst. U.S. Attorney, Fort Smith, AR.
For NAT, L.C., Defendant: Jerry C. Jones, Kenneth Shemin, Amy Lee Stewart
& Grant Fortson, Rose Law Firm, Little Rock, AR. Woody Bassett, Bassett
Law Firm, Fayetteville, AR. For Donrey, Defendant: Mr. James M. Dunn,
Warner, Smith & Harris, Fort Smith, AR. For Thomson Newspapers,
Defendant: William J. Butt, Timothy E. Howell, Davis, Cox & Wright,
Fayetteville, AR. Mr. Jeremy Epstein, Shearman & Sterling, New York, NY.
JUDGES: H. Franklin Waters, United States District Judge
OPINIONBY: H. Franklin Waters
OPINION: MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is a consolidated antitrust case in which the United States and
private plaintiffs are challenging the purchase of a local daily
SNIPPETS:
COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INC.;
DONREY CORP. d/b/a DONREY MEDIA GROUP;
THE NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TIMES,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
NAT, L.C. and D.R. PARTNERS d/b/a DONREY MEDIA GROUP,
Mr. Tom Burke, Burke & Eldridge, Fayetteville, AR.
U.S. Attorney, Fort Smith, AR.
For Thomson Newspapers, Defendant: William J. Butt, Timothy E. Howell, Davis, Cox & Wright,
This is a consolidated antitrust case in which the United States and private plaintiffs are
newspaper, the Northwest Arkansas Times, by NAT, L.C. Both the government and private
Private plaintiffs and the government both claim that the acquisition violates Section 1 of
As will be explained below, the court will find that the challenged acquisition violates
Thomson Newspapers, Inc. owned the Northwest Arkansas Times, a local daily newspaper that
n1 Various Stephens family trusts own ninety-five percent of NAT's stock, and Jack Stephens
Stephens family assets are now dispersed among Jack Stephens, his son, his brother Witt
Partners d/b/a Donrey Media Group is a general partnership which owns the Morning News of
which competes in the same local daily newspaper market as the Times.
Community Publishers, Inc publishes the Benton County Daily Record, which also competes in
The acquisition history is also useful in explaining the role of Thomson in closing the deal
the Hart-Scott-Rodino notice provisions of the antitrust law were not an infrequent topic of
Section 7 forbids a stock or asset acquisition if it may substantially lessen competition in
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - n6 In setting forth the
This market is in fact two markets: one for readers and one for advertisers.
872, 97 L. Ed. 1277, "every newspaper is a dual trader in separate though interdependent
It is generally considered that "Northwest Arkansas" encompasses Washington and Benton
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