Media: DMGT values Northcliffe

PR Week UK, Friday, 02 December 2011, 12:00am,

Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), the publisher of the Daily Mail, has appointed Ernst & Young to value its regional arm, Northcliffe Media, which the group has previously failed to sell off.

Northcliffe Media - which comprises around 100 titles including the Hull Daily Mail, Western Daily Press and Plymouth Herald - has, like rival regional press groups, suffered from a difficult advertising market and from readers migrating to the internet.

In 2005, DMGT disclosed that it was considering selling Northcliffe Media, ending its more than 80-year link with local newspapers. But it was unable to attract a buyer at its asking price, which was thought to be around £1.5bn.

Last week DMGT reported a 15 per cent fall in pre-tax profits after its bottom line was hit by a promotion for The Mail on Sunday, following the closure of the News of the World.