Independent News and Media may be preparing to bid for a number of newspapers owned by British media group Trinity Mirror, according to a report in today's Financial Times.
The FT reports that Mr Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, held meetings met with Sir Anthony O'Reilly over the weekend.Trinity Mirror which sold the Belfast Telegraphto Independent News for £300 million three years ago has put its remaining Northern Ireland titles including the staunchly unionist Belfast Newsletterup for sale.However analysts said any further purchases by Independent News in the Northern Ireland are likely to meet resistance from regulators as Belfast Telegraphhas a very strong market position in the Northern Ireland market.
Secondly, Independent may have some difficultyjustifying spending acquiring regional titles at a time when it has agreed to exit the British regionalnewspaper market.A more likely target may therefore be the Scottish tabloid, the Daily Record.Speculation has focused for some time on the Daily Record, although Trinity Mirror denies it is up for sale.There has also been speculation that the entire Trinity Mirror group may be subject to a takeover though Mr Ivan Fallon, chief executive of INM, has played down rumours that the company is preparing a bid for Trinity.Trinity Mirror recently rebuffed a second offer from Candover, the private equity house, for its national newspaper titles.It is not known how much Candover was prepared to offer but it made a joint offer with Apax Partners last year valuing the group at more than £1.3 billion.