Telegraph To Take A Stake In The Provinces

Hollinger International, the group that owns the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, is said to be considering expanding into the regional press. Midland Independent Newspapers is known to have attracted the group’s attention.

Hollinger bid £105 million for Midland in 1991. It was beaten by a management buy-out group that paid £125 million. Midland, which publishes The Birmingham Post, Evening Mail and Coventry Evening Telegraph, floated in 1994. The shares have never risen much higher than their 140p floatation price. They closed on Friday at 148.5p, rising a penny on the day. The weak share price makes the company ripe for a takeover.