The 'i' newspaper & 200 others up for grabs - Johnston Press puts itself up for sale.

[cupid_stunt]

Here we go again!

The hedge funds that took over JP after it went into administration, dumping the pension fund problems along the way, appears to be gearing-up to break-up & sell off the group.

A consortium of hedge funds which seized control of Johnston Press last year is plotting a quickfire strategic review that could trigger the sale of prized newspaper assets such as the i and The Scotsman.

Sky News has learnt that the owners of JPIMedia, the company's new name, are sounding out advisers about launching an auction of parts or all of the business, which publishes hundreds of regional titles. Prospective advisers are understood to have been interviewed in the last few weeks, with an appointment said to be imminent.

City insiders said this weekend that the likeliest outcome was the sale of the i in one transaction, and the rest of the group in another.

Hedge funds plot break-up and sale of i‎ newspaper publisher

 

[mx wcfc]

Remember when a newspaper was a newspaper and not a “prized asset”.

 

[Poi E]

And when journalists were fearless defenders of truth, justice and oh it was always a pack of lies.

 

[SpookyFrank]

So you can now just buy a company off yourself at a fire sale price and let the government sort out the pension deficit?

Seems legit.

 

[cupid_stunt]

So you can now just buy a company off yourself at a fire sale price and let the government sort out the pension deficit?

Seems legit.

Well they didn't exactly buy it off themselves as such, they were basically just the lenders. The shareholders, the actual owners, lost everything in this deal, with the shares becoming worthless.
* Although there may have been some overlap between the two.

So, not only have the taxpayers had to pick-up the around £50m pension deficit, but all those encouraged to buy into the staff share scheme, as an extra investment opportunity towards their retirement years, lost every penny.

I am glad I didn't, my gut feeling was the shares were over priced, the company was over valued, and management were clueless. Sadly I know some people that lost thousands of their hard earned cash in all this.

Meanwhile these cunts that took a 'gamble' on this basket case of a company, by lending it money, looks like they will get every penny back, and possibly a profit on top.

 

[cupid_stunt]

And when journalists were fearless defenders of truth, justice and oh it was always a pack of lies.

The local & regional press has always been considered a different beast to the national press, far more trustworthy, TBF.

 

[Dogsauce]

It’s all fucking press releases/sponsored surveys and shit-stirring articles about cycle lanes or whatever these days. A shame.

 

[cupid_stunt]

The 'new company', i.e. the old one now called JPI Media, has been back on the market for a few weeks, reports suggest the Daily Mail group is once again going after the 'i'.

https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/...ily-mail-owner-to-bid-for-jpimedia-newspaper/

 

[tim]

Remember when a newspaper was a newspaper and not a “prized asset”.

A rather romantic view, they were always prized assets used to promote the political causes and business interests of the press barons who owned then.

 

[cupid_stunt]

A rather romantic view, they were always prized assets used to promote the political causes and business interests of the press barons who owned then.

Most nationals, yes, and probably some of the larger regional dailies too, but not so much local weeklies, IME.

Over the years I've worked for a number of small family-owned local newspaper groups, that were non-political, and were very much about serving their communities, standing-up for them, and holding councils & other local bodies to account, on behalf of their readers.

Sadly, these have been gobbled-up by big groups, but still remain non-political.

 

[cupid_stunt]

The 'new company', i.e. the old one now called JPI Media, has been back on the market for a few weeks, reports suggest the Daily Mail group is once again going after the 'i'.

https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/...ily-mail-owner-to-bid-for-jpimedia-newspaper/

The Daily Mail group was known to be the only bidder left some weeks ago, just confirmed they are taking it over.

Daily Mail owner buys i newspaper for £50m

The Competition and Markets Authority will have to approve the deal.

Can't see that as a problem, as the cleared the Mirror group to take over both the Express and Daily Star.

 

[cupid_stunt]

https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/...national-daily-to-daily-mail-owner-for-49-6m/

“We are committed to preserving its distinctive, high quality and politically independent editorial style. The acquisition of the i is both strategically and financially compelling for DMGT and there is scope for potential synergies in the future, notably from dmg media’s existing infrastructure and in advertising sales."

That's something.

Oh, and Reach PLC (Mirror Group) has pulled out of the competition to buy the regional & local titles, so it looks like they will be going to the US-owned Newsquest, the only other bidder.