GMG holds talks on sale of Manchester Evening News

Guardian Media Group (GMG) has held “exploratory talks” about selling the Manchester Evening News and other regional titles, it has confirmed.

The company said that talks were in a “very early stage”, while a report in the Daily Telegraph said that Trinity Mirror could be a likely buyer of GMG Regional Media.

The owner of GMG, The Scott Trust, is obliged by its constitution to safeguard the future of the Guardian “in perpetuity”, but not its regional newspapers.

A GMG spokesman said: “In line with its remit, GMG keeps its portfolio under review on an ongoing basis. Since the publication of the Digital Britain report we have been considering the potential for further consolidation within the regional press sector, and as part of this there have been some exploratory talks regarding our regional media business.”

GMG’s latest annual results, published in August, revealed that GMG Regional Media’s operating profit dropped to £0.5 million from £14.3 million in 2008, mainly due to a 30% fall in classified ad revenues.