National World accuses shareholder seeking takeover of financial ‘irregularities’

Media Concierge has rejected allegations of "irregularities" as "baseless".

David Montgomery and Malcolm Denmark are depicted in a montage image illustrating a story about Media Concierge's successful bid to take over National World — Left: David Montgomery, director of National World (picture: Reuters). Right: Malcolm Denmark, the founder and majority owner of advertising and publishing business Media Concierge (pictured: Media Concierge).

The management of the UK’s third-largest regional publisher National World has hit out at a major shareholder proposing a takeover bid, accusing it of financial “irregularities”.

Media Concierge, which on Friday launched a bid for the 72.2% of National World it does not already own, rejected National World’s claims as “baseless”.

Despite the acrimony, Media Concierge revealed that “National World’s advisers have indicated that they would provide Media Concierge with access to limited and confirmatory due diligence”.

Bron Maher

@bron_maher

Bron Maher is Press Gazette's senior reporter, covering US and UK media. He joined Press Gazette in November 2021 from Newsguard, a US start-up that reviews how far news sites adhere to journalistic standards.