Reports claim that after becoming the preferred bidder, Gannett attempted to lower its offer price by £12 million. SMG, whilst not commenting until a deal is finalised, is believed to have immediately reopened the auction.
Returning bids could come from Independent News & Media (INM) and the Barclay brothers, owners of the Scotsman newspaper. Their original offers were thought to be in the region of £210 million, although a returning bid is likely to be lower than this. The Barclays were squeezed out of the auction process due to concerns at SMG that the sale may face possible political and regulatory obstacles, given that the brothers already own the Scotsman newspaper (see Barclay Brothers Said To Be Out Of Herald Bid).
Gannett’s takeover proposal, which has been referred to the Competition Commission for investigation (see Gannett Bid For SMG Titles Referred To Competition Authorities), is not necessarily out of the running, although its period of exclusivity expired on Tuesday night. Gannett owns the Newsquest regional publishing group in the UK.
