Independent share price up amid sale hopes

UK-listed shares in Independent News & Media are up over 20% amid claims that the new board will offload its loss-making Independent and Independent on Sunday titles.

Experts have been called in to review the group’s books in the past few weeks with a view to creating a turnaround strategy for the heavily-indebted Irish media company, according to reports.

INM is due to report its annual results on Friday and analysts predict the figures will provide some indication of the group’s future plans.

A number of prelimary offers are thought to have been received for the UK Independent titles, though potential bidders still remain unnamed.

Daily Mail & General Trust, which is already set to share its London offices with the Independent‘s staff, had been mooted as a possible buyer.

However, in March, INM’s incoming chief executive Gavin O’Reilly rebuffed claims that the struggling Independent titles were up for sale or due to be closed (see New INM chief says Independent is not for sale).

Other reports this weekend suggest that INM could save money by selling its 21% stake in Indian publisher Jagran Prakashan, which it bought for £22.5 million in 2004.

Last month, INM’s long-running chief executive Sir Anthony O’Reilly announced that he would step down on May 7 and be replaced by his son, Gavin O’Reilly (see Sir Anthony O’Reilly is set to leave INM).

Anthony O’Reilly is the largest shareholder in INM with 28.5% and has been a massive driving force behind the company for the past 36 years – although he remains a fairly controversial figure, who has been involved in a bitter row with fellow INM shareholder Denis O’Brien.

The move was reportedly designed to help the group out of its financial difficulties – its market value has drastically fallen from £760 million to £36 million in the last 18 months.

In the latest ABC release, the Independent suffered the largest decline in the Quality Daily market, shedding over 41,000 from its circulation year on year, leaving it with a total of around 205,000 copies (see ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: March 2009).

The Independent on Sunday was also hit hard in March, falling by 24.3% – or almost 54,000 copies – to leave its total circulation at around 168,000.