Regional Independent Media Makes £913m Mirror Bid

Following the faltered takeover discussions between Trinity International and Mirror Group (see Mirror Shareholder Urges That Trinity Talks Resume), a bid from Regional Independent Media (RIM) will today be presented to the Mirror board by the Group’s chairman Sir Victor Blank. Blank held a meeting with RIM chairman Sir Norman Fowler at the weekend at which a £913 million offer was put together.

The offer from RIM, which publishes the Yorkshire Post amongst other titles, represents a price of 200p per Mirror share, a 15.4% premium on Friday’s closing price. The bid is being funded by RIM’s owner, venture capitalist group Candover Investments (see United Sells Northern Newspapers). The Mirror board is currently considering this offer which places a greater value on the media group than Trinity’s bid.

The breakdown in talks with Trinity was the result of Mirror Group chief executive David Montgomery’s refusal to accept a price which undervalued Mirror Group. It is understood that Trinity’s offer valued each Mirror share at 165p, below Friday’s closing price of 173˝p. It has been reported however, that the stumbling block in the negotiations was Montgomery’s resulting position in a merged company, although Mirror Group denies that this is the case.

The Mirror Group owns Midland Independent Newspapers (MIN) which publishes newspapers across much of central England; RIM’s titles cover Yorkshire and Lancashire. However, because the groups’ papers do not overlap in coverage area, its is unlikely that the necessary Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigation will prevent the deal from going ahead.

At 12:00pm this afternoon, Mirror’s share price had risen to 205p on the back of the offer. This is up by 18.2% (31˝p) on Friday’s closing price.

Mirror Group: 0171 293 3000 Regional Independent Media: 0113 243 2701