The classified advertising magazine Buy and Sell has been put up for sale by Associated Newspapers Ireland with a valuation of between €20 and €30 million.
The magazine, which has an extensive online presence, has an annual turnover of over €11 million and earnings of €2.2 million. The sale is being handled by Merrion Corporate Finance.
The magazine's circulation is 83,332 and it carries up to 50,000 free ads per week. Several major publishers are likely to be interested in the publication, although private equity groups may also show an interest.
The magazine is published three times a week and each edition consists of between 80 and 120 pages. The magazine is owned by Associated, owner of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Associated is ultimately owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, which is controlled by Lord Rothermere, the chairman. The company is to concentrate on its core newspaper business in Ireland, rather than classifieds.
Yesterday the company declined to comment on its price range but industry sources said the magazine was likely to attract bids of between €20 and €30 million. A bid in excess of €20 million would be approximately 10 times the magazine's earnings. While this is high for some industries, media properties often trade at much higher multiples. An extra premium tends to be involved if the business can produce revenues from online activities.
Kevin Beatty, managing director of Associated Newspapers, said yesterday: "As we will now be focusing entirely on titles with news content, we believe that the future interests of Buy & Sell will be better served in the hands of a new owner".
He said the decision was likely to provide Associated with the chance to invest additional capital in its newspapers. Last year its Sunday title, Ireland on Sunday, was renamed Mail on Sunday Ireland in an attempt reposition the paper and achieve synergies with the its daily counterpart, the Daily Mail. The company also has a stake in the freesheet Metro.
Classified advertising for cars, property and employment opportunities have rapidly been migrating to online sites and this has eroded the value of many traditional media companies. However, Buy and Sell, has maintained a web presence for many years and all its print adverts are reproduced online.
In November the Daily Mail and General Trust reported its full year results ended October 1st showing operating profits rising by 6 per cent to £300 million. Sales were flatter, rising just 2 per cent to £2.1 billion.
In the UK the Daily Mail and General Trust has been finding it hard, like many of its peer companies, to grow its newspaper business. In the year to the end of October revenues actually dropped, whereas its information publishing business managed a 17 per cent jump in revenues.
