Media giants Utusan Group and New Straits Times Press (NSTP) today suspended the trading of their respective shares at the Bursa Malaysia, indicating that the proposed merger between the two are close to realisation.

In an announcement to the Bursa Malaysia this morning, Utusan - which publishes top Malay-language dailies Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo - said the trading of its shares was suspended with effect from 9.56am today.

It added that Bursa Malaysia has approved its request for the suspension pending an announcement on Dec 4.

NSTP also released a similar statement, saying that the trading of its shares too has been suspended since this morning.

It is now widely expected that the Dec 4 announcement will be on the merger involving the two media powerhouse.

A press conference is also slated for Monday evening at 5pm at the Royale Bintang hotel in Damansara, near Kuala Lumpur.

Prior to suspension of trading this morning, NSTP shares traded at RM2.94, up one sen from yesterday, while Utusan's shares were at RM1.83, down nine sen.

News of the merger surfaced earlier this week when it was reported that the two public-listed organisations will be grouped under a yet-to-be named entity.

The merger will also see the new entity coming under the direct control of ruling party Umno, which will now have a complete monopoly of Malay-language newspapers.

Umno in control

At present, Umno controls about 50 percent equity interest in Utusan Melayu, which the party took over after an acrimonious battle with the then newspaper's editors and journalists in 1961.

However, the party's control over NSTP has always been through nominee business groups such as Media Prima, which has a 43 percent stake in NSTP.

NSTP publishes the English dailies New Straits Times and Malay Mail as well as Malay newspapers Berita Harian and Harian Metro .

The merger may also pave the way for the ruling party to directly control all the private free-to-air TV stations - TV3, ntv7, 8TV and Channel 9 - which are currently under Media Prima.

Media watchdogs condemned the proposed merger, saying that it is a bad move for press freedom.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said it was concerned that the merger as it "would completely erode the plurality of expression, which is severely curtailed in the country".

The proposed merger between NSTP and Utusan came in the wake of another media tie-up - the recent takeover of Chinese dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press by billionaire media mogul and timber tycoon Tiong Hiew King last month.

Tiong also controls Sin Chew Daily and Guangming Daily .