Johnston Press – publisher of The i, The Scotsman, and dozens of local papers – is up for sale and may have its assets split after failing to refinance its £220m debt.
The decision follows a year-long strategic review process that started March 2017, and according to Johnston Press’ CEO David King, the company will likely receive bids for its brands instead of the whole business.
"There is a very strong likelihood that some people will attempt to bid for particular assets they have a particular interest in," he said. “We will obviously take that on board, consider those things.”
However, King says the publisher would continue to operate as normal throughout sale negotiations.
“Johnston Press is a strong and resilient business with good profits and strong profit margins, great people and prestigious titles – we have a lot of very high-quality assets sitting under a large debt pile that we inherited.”
According to Jack Bhatt, from Universal Newsagent in London, the state of the market means potential buyers may not get much out of it.
"I don't know how much mileage the people who are buying Johnston Press are going to get out of it," he told RN. "Newspaper sales are gradually declining for years, and aside from the i, whoever buys Johnston Press may not get enough return for their investment."
Responding to the announcement, NFRN head of news Brian Murphy pledge the NFRN support during the process.
“Johnston Press owns a lot of local titles that service local retailers, so we hope the negotiations go well,” he told RN. “The NFRN will continue to play our part in ensuring the local press survives.”
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