Marketing business and Irish local publisher Media Concierge has agreed a deal to take over Scotsman and Yorkshire Post parent company National World, promising it will not make editorial job cuts and will invest in local news.
Media Concierge upped its initial offer of 21p per share to 23p, a premium of 15p relative to National World plc’s closing price the day before the offer became public. The deal values National World at £65.1m.
Media Concierge already owns 27.8% of the company, but the deal must receive the approval of 75% of the other shareholders in order to be approved. Media Concierge says it has received irrevocable undertakings in respect of 65.9% of the the share capital it does not already own.
The takeover is expected to come into effect in the first quarter of 2025. National World will be de-listed from the London Stock Exchange as part of the acquisition and all the current non-executive directors will resign.
The agreement is being financed in part out of Media Concierge’s cash reserves and partly using a £40m loan from HSBC and Barclays.
Media Concierge: No plans for ‘material job reductions in editorial or production areas’
Announcing the deal, Media Concierge said it does not plan to close down local newsbrands or “to make material job reductions in editorial or production areas… instead intending to invest in the company’s editorial output”.
It did note however that “there could be material job reductions in areas of overlap” between the two companies. Media Concierge said it plans to move the publisher’s head office to London, but that the Leeds office that is currently National World’s headquarters will remain open.
National World has engaged in several rounds of job cuts since taking over the former Johnston Press titles from its successor company JPI Media. Press Gazette calculated in July last year that the David Montgomery-led business had shed one in four of its jobs since National World acquired JPI Media at the start of 2021.
Media Concierge said it wants to “continue and accelerate National World’s strategy… by concentrating on local and regional audiences, improving the user experience of the websites and ensuring that adequate news gathering and technical resources are available and properly directed to drive traffic and user loyalty.”
It also said it was “committed to preserving” National World’s print products “for the foreseeable future” and that it wanted to “return the business to its former status as a family owned and managed local and regional newsbrand company with quality local journalism and serving of local communities remaining as core principles”.
Media Concierge added that it planned to “slightly adjust focus away from national product emphasis, not wishing to operate in the crowded and very competitive national space against better resourced competitors”.
National World currently publishes both a self-named national news site and a national television station populated with video shot by its journalists, named Shots!.
National World said it “remains in discussions, which have varying degrees of maturity and commensurate execution risk, on a number of exciting acquisitions and strategic initiatives”.
The outgoing management also said it believes the acquisition “may not fully recognise the potential shareholder value which may be generated in the longer term should the National World Board’s strategy be implemented as an independent company” but the terms of the deal are “fair and reasonable”.
The two companies initially had legal disagreements around the deal, with National World alleging “irregularities” at Media Concierge after a potential acquisition was first proposed.
They agreed a “temporary halt in legal proceedings” earlier this month and National World indicated it was minded to accept the increased takeover bid.
Media Concierge currently publishes local Irish newspapers including the Donegal Democrat and the Limerick Leader through its subsidiary Iconic Media Group. It was one of National World’s original backers.
Media Concierge is led by Malcolm Denmark, whose marketing business Mediaforce provides services including printing and the distribution of inserts and leaflets.
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