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Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers Receives Further Interest

Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers Receives Further Interest

The takeover battle for Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers (P&S) (see New Approaches For Portsmouth & Sunderland) has received another player after the group’s board rejected an offer from regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press this weekend. Charles Villiers, formerly head of Score, Scottish Radio’s newspaper division, has announced that he is potentially interested in making a bid for the newspapers and convenience stores group.

In a statement, Villiers says: “Any such interest is being pursued on the basis that such offer would only be made with the recommendation of the board of P&S.” The P&S board rejected Johnston’s offer of £16 per share which values the group at £200 million. Johnston’s bid was an attempt to increase its current share in P&S of 15% to 25% but the offer falls below P&S’ current share price which stood at £17 at 12:04pm today.

It is also understood that regional publisher Newsquest is ready to join the bidding. Newsquest is ranked third in the Newspaper Society’s top regional publishers table, with a total weekly circulation of around 7.7 million copies. Portsmouth & Sunderland, which publishes 21 papers including the Sunderland Echo, comes in at 12th place in the table with a weekly circulation of 1.7 million (see Trinity Tops 1998 Regional Publishers Table).

Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers: 01705 664 488 Newsquest: 0181 640 8989

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