- BLOG BEAG –

Regional papers on the market : Leinster Leader, Kilkenny People, Nationalist and Munster Advertiser, Limerick Leader, Tipperary Star, Tallaght Echo for sale

It has been reported in a number of newspapers over the weekend (7/8 Feb 09) that Johnston Press is putting its 14 Irish newspapers up for sale

To quote Laura Noonan  in The Irish Independent, “The titles for sale include the ‘Leinster Leader’, the ‘Kilkenny People’, the ‘Nationalist and Munster Advertiser’, the ‘Limerick Leader’, the ‘Tipperary Star’ and the ‘Tallaght Echo’. The group’s printing presses in Limerick and Kilkenny are also understood to be covered by the sale, which is being carried out by Dublin-based Raglan Capital. The total package is expected to fetch upwards of €70m, leaving Johnston Press with a hefty writedown on the estimated €250m it spent compiling its Irish portfolio…..Johnston acquired the bulk of its Irish interests in 2005, when it bought the Leinster Leader Group for about €140m. With 18 daily newspapers in the UK, including the ‘Scotsman’ and 300 weekly newspapers as well as several specialist publications, Johnston has grown rapidly in recent years to become the UK’s second largest newspaper group. As it expanded, Johnston incurred massive debts prompting a fundraising exercise last May which saw the group raise €212m by selling a 20pc stake of the business.”

Journalist John Murray Brown in the Financial Times on February 6 2009, “Johnston Press is putting its Irish newspaper titles up for sale, in a deal expected to raise €80m-€90m (£70m) for the debt-burdened UK regional newspaper group. A formal prospectus will be issued in the next few days, according to those familiar with the deal. The titles are expected to be sold for a fraction of the original investment. Johnston Press was one of a number of UK media companies to target Ireland, paying around €120m for the newspaper assets of Scottish Radio Holdings in June 2005. That September it expanded its operations paying €137m for the Leinster Leader titles, making it the largest regional newspaper publisher in Ireland. It also owns the Local Press titles in Northern Ireland which it bought from 3i in 2005 for £65m.

The group’s Irish operation had revenues last year of about €38m according to industry sources. Total circulation was just under 136,000 copies. However with increased competition, little growth in circulation, advertising markets depressed and many of the mainstream media groups such as Independent News & Media all short of cash and struggling with large debt burdens, industry experts expect the main buyer interest will be from some of the original Irish owners of the titles. The sale is being handled for Johnston Press by Raglan Capital, a Dublin corporate finance specialist in asset disposals. Raglan previously handled the sale by Emap of its three Irish radio stations to Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp company. Raglan also ran the auction of Loot’s, the Irish version of Buy and Sell which was sold by Daily Mail & General Trust.”