Sharewatch: Trinity Mirror Rises On Take-Over Speculation

Trinity Mirror was the media sector’s big mover on Monday, following reports that the company had spurned a buy-out offer from Apax Partners and Candover last September (see Trinity Mirror Rumoured To Have Received Take-Over Bid). The stock was seen up 5.68%.

Elsewhere, Emap was seen in focus after WestLB upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral. The stock was seen up 6.13%.

In a separate sector update WestLB said media stocks had generally underperformed, mirroring the pattern in the run up to the last Gulf war, and that buying into Desert Storm in 1991 had proved to be the correct investment strategy.

Meanwhile ITV partners Carlton and Granada remained in the spotlight on news their proposed merger is expected to be referred to the Competition Commission this week by the Office Of Fair Trading (see ITV Merger Set For Competition Commission Referral). The stocks were seen up 1.76% and 4.67% respectively.

The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were: