Trinity Mirror rejects merger approach

LONDON (Brand Republic) - Trinity Mirror, the UK’s biggest newspaper publisher, has rejected plans by Wireless Group chairman Kelvin Mackenzie to buy or merge with his radio group.

Mackenzie is understood to have brokered a deal that valued the Wireless Group at £200m. It is said to have suggested that Trinity demerges its national and regional papers.

Wireless owns Talk Sport and several other local radio stations and has applied for a number of digital radio licences. It is said to be keen to exploit synergies between its local stations and Trinity’s local newspapers, which includes the Birmingham Post & Mail.

Although Trinity chairman Philip Graf has rejected the offer, he is said to have made no secret of his desire to move into radio and highlighted this at the group’s results last Thursday.

However, a merger of the Wireless Group with Trinity could cause problems because Rupert Murdoch’s News International, publisher of Mirror rival The Sun, is Wireless’s second biggest shareholder.

Shares in Wireless closed up at £166.5 on Friday and remained unchanged during early trading this morning. Shares in Trinity Mirror rose slightly this morning to £4.91.

Last week, Trinity Mirror announced it was to close a number of its IC network of websites, including icshowbiz.com, and sell its ISP ic24.com.

www.ic24.com

www.icshowbiz.com

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com