Johnston Press is to acquire i from Independent Print Limited through a wholly owned subsidiary, for a total consideration of £24 million. £22 million in cash on completion and £2 million in cash on 20 April 2017. The £24 million consideration represents 4.6x i’s unaudited “carve-out” operating profit of £5.2 million in the year ended 27 September 2015
i is a UK national daily newspaper providing concise quality editorial content, priced at 40 pence per issue Monday to Friday and 50 pence per issue on Saturday. It has a 20% market share of the newspaper “quality market”, or 8% of the combined newspaper “quality” and “mid-market” (source: analysis of Audit Bureau of Circulation data as at December 2015). i was named National Newspaper of the Year in 2015 at the industry’s News Awards.
The Acquisition would create the UK’s fourth biggest news publishing group, centred around a handful of leading brands (by circulation), selling the equivalent of over 600,000 copies a day predominantly outside London.
77% of i readers are from the ABC1 demographic category. The average reader is aged 53 and 63% of its readership is male (source: National Readership Survey). i enjoys a broad reach across Great Britain, with 85% of its circulation outside of London, though currently it has no presence in Northern Ireland. After London, the largest concentration of circulation is Meridian (15%), the Granada region (13%), Central (12%), Anglia (9%), Yorkshire (8%), West (8%), South West (5%), Scotland (5%) and Tyne Tees (3%).
Ashley Highfield, Chief Executive of Johnston Press said, “This is a transformational acquisition for Johnston Press and an important step towards delivering our long-term strategy. i is a highly regarded newspaper with a clear market position and a loyal readership. By joining with Johnston Press the combined circulation will be equal to 9% of national daily circulation, making us the fourth largest player in the market. This enhanced reach represents a significant growth opportunity for Johnston Press in terms of national print and digital advertising revenue. It also rebalances our revenues towards less volatile circulation revenues.”
UK, Edinburgh & London
Related articles:
- Johnston Press sells its Irish titles to Iconic Press Posted on April 1, 2014
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