The sale of regional publisher Northcliffe Media to a new company owned by David Montgomery could be announced this week, according to reports.
Former Trinity Mirror boss Mr Montgomery is aiming to set up a new company called Local World which would own Northcliffe and fellow regional publisher Iliffe News and Media.
Northcliffe’s parent company DMGT and Iliffe’s owner Yattendon each confirmed last month that they were in talks over the future of the two companies.
The financial news website ThisisMoney.co.uk, which is owned by DMGT, reported over the weekend that Mr Montgomery was expecting to be able to announce the deal “early this week.”
DMGT is due to unveil its annual results on Thursday and, according to some sources, is keen to have the deal concluded by then.
According to a report in the Independent on Sunday, Northcliffe boss Steve Auckland will be chief executive of the new company, with Mr Montgomery as chairman.
Northcliffe currently publishes 113 newspapers of which 14 are daily titles. Iliffe News and Media owns around 30 of which three are daily.
A Northcliffe spokeswoman said this morning that the company had no further comment.
Trinity Mirror is also expected to take a stake in Local World, but will not be putting its regional titles into the new company.
Other investors could include the hedge fund manager Crispin Odey and the former Conservative Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft.
goodbye local papers and journalists as slash and burn owner takes over….
Report this comment
Hard to see how new owners could make a worse job of handling the ex-Northcliffe titles than Northcliffe themselves, with their constant chopping and changing production strategies and cut-cut-cutting.
Report this comment
My God, with Montgomery’s record that really is the end of the regional press as we know it. RIP!
Report this comment
I have been working with local papers for twenty years and I have watched their standards slide and slip.
A new broom will sweep clean, but I fear in this case some papers will get the chop!
Report this comment
paperwatcher…which papers do you reckon will go?
I fear for the Eccles Evening Examiner
Report this comment