Nine months after publisher Trinity Mirror (TNI) revealed it was in discussions about taking a minority stake in Daily Express and Daily Star publisher Northern & Shell, talks have now moved on to proposals to acquire 100 per cent of the publishing assets of the business owned by Richard Desmond.
Previously talks had centred on the possibility of sharing back-office operations to improve efficiency across both businesses, something essential in the publishing world where margins remain under intense pressure but now it appears that Trinity Mirror’s board has decided that a full takeover of the titles is a better option. No price has been agreed, and any offer would have to be backed by Trinity’s shareholders but Mr Desmond is believed to be looking for more than £100m and even close to the £125m he paid for the Express titles in 2000.
The move echoes the Trinity board’s desire to be a consolidator in the squeezed print media sector two years after it acquired regional newspapers group Local World. Since then it has targeted cost savings with the closure of a number of titles and the rationalisation of local operations, as it battles against continued falls in circulation. Its recent half-year results detailed a 6 per cent fall in like-for-like circulation revenue, but also showed a 4 per cent rise in digital revenue. It has also made strong progress on cost-cutting, with the full-year’s targeted savings expanded from £15m to £20m.
