Southern Newspapers has announced the takeover of Gloucestershire-based Bailey Newspaper Group (BNG) for a total of £35m. The deal means that Southern Newspapers will move from tenth to eighth ranking in the table of the UK’s top 20 regional publishers.
Southern’s current titles circulate at around 2.4 million copies weekly; BNG’s free and paid for titles have a circulation of around 450,000.
The acquisition furthers Southern’s expansion of activities following the purchase of United News & Media’s Welsh titles for £31.5m late last year (subscribers see United News & Media Sell Welsh Titles). The deal also allows Southern Newspapers to expand further north into the Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire areas in which it currently has virtually no presence.
Chief executive of Southern Newspapers PLC, James Sexton, says that the BNG acquisition is a “further demonstration of Southern’s determination to be a major force in regional newspaper publishing.”
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Southern Newspapers PLC: 01703 424 424
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