Dods, the parliamentary publisher and data platform, has pulled the plug on its planned £12.8 million purchase of DeHavilland Political Intelligence from private equity-owned publisher Emap.
Dods, which is currently 17% owned by Tory grandee Lord Ashcroft, originally agreed to buy DeHavilland back in January.
But the deal was referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading last week.
Dods said it was disappointed by the referral but that it was still going ahead with an £11.1 million new share placing which is backed by Ashcroft and which could increase his shareholding significantly.
Both Dods and DeHavilland provide political monitoring and polling services for the public and private sectors. The OFT described them as the largest players in this market in the UK.
