The deal, which was negotiated over the summer, would have seen media giant Emap take over ABI's subscription and information bulletins for the construction industry.
Diana Guy, the Competition Commission inquiry group chairman, said: "We have provisionally concluded that the effect of the merger would be substantially to lessen competition in the market.
"The merger would remove choice for customers who were able to benefit from the competition between the two companies when negotiating prices."
Emap, which also owns Liverpool's Radio City, now has two weeks to put forward new proposals about what it plans to do with ABI. In order for the £14m merger to go through, Emap is likely to either license or sell ABI's data to a third company.
The blocked merger has also saved around 150 jobs at the Liverpool-based publishing company because Emap would have moved the offices to the South East.
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