Associated Ends Distribution Deal With The Business
Rivalry between the Barclay brothers and Associated Newspapers has intensified with news that the Mail On Sunday has ended its distribution deal with the media moguls’ troubled financial title, The Business.
Associated Newspapers is understood to be preparing a £500 million-plus bid to take control of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph in an attempt to derail the deal clinched last week by the reclusive Barclay brothers (see Rival Bidders Prepare To Move On Telegraph Titles).
However, Lord Rothermere’s Associated Group claims its decision to stop the distribution agreement follows a period of disappointing sales, and has nothing to do with the battle for the Telegraph titles.
It is understood that around 160,000 copies of The Business have been distributed for free by being inserted into copies of the Mail on Sunday since last November. The deal has turned things around for troubled financial title, which saw its circulation rocket by 134% year on year to 287,299 in the six months to December (see Tabloid Launch Boosts Circulation At The Times).
The distribution agreement is set to end in April in a turn of events could cause serious problems for The Business. Reports suggest the title has only been selling 30,000 copies in Britain, with a further 70,000 sold abroad or given away to hotel guests or air travellers.
Associated Newspapers has reportedly denied that the move is part of a plan to put increasing pressure on its rivals for the Telegraph titles. It claims the decision was made on 13 January, five days before the Barclays announced their £260 million bid for the newspaper group owned by Conrad Black.
A spokesman for Associated Newspapers told the Independent: “The decision was taken purely on commercial grounds. We had anticipated a sales uplift from this arrangement but regrettably, because of the costs associated with distribution, we no longer feel that the commercial argument stacked up.”
The ending of the distribution agreement is the latest twist in the rocky history of The Business, which was bought by the Barclay Brothers in 1997 as the Sunday Business. The title relaunched in January 2002 following a three-year refinancing deal with the Press Association and cut its cover price by half to 50p (see Sunday Business Set For Relaunch).
DMGT: 020 7938 6000 www.dmgt.co.uk
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