The ITC has written to the parties involved to give the OK to the deal, which will see the consumer product giant's brands including Birds Eye Wall's, Lever Faberge and Calvin Klein advertised as part of a £320m four-year deal on ITV.
The investigation into the deal, which was signed in May, began in June following a complaint to the ITC. It later emerged that rival commercial broadcaster Channel 4 had made the complaint. It said that it raised issues about fair and effective competition in the TV market place; and also argued that the deal breached rules that stop ITV acting as a single company.
Carlton and Granada had argued in response that each company signed a separate agreement and that no single deal had been signed, a claim that was backed by Unilever and Initiative Media, the media agency that brokered the agreement.
The news had little impact on Carlton's share price, which was down by 6.45% or 9.5p this afternoon, trading at 140.5p. Granada was up by 0.63% at 80.5p.
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