28th Oct 2015 08:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Trinity Mirror PLC on Wednesday said it has proposed a deal to acquire the stake in regional newspaper publisher Local World is does not already own for GBP220.0 million and will launch a share placing to back the deal.
Trinity Mirror will acquire the 80% of the company it does not already own from Daily Mail & General Trust PLC, the publisher of the Daily Mail, and from all other shareholders in the company, including the Iliffe Family. The deal will make Trinity Mirror the UK's largest regional news publisher.
Trinity said it intends to deliver cost synergies of GBP10.0 million to GBP12.0 million by the second full year of ownership of the business, and it expects the deal to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership.
As part of the acquisition, Trinity will launch a share placing to raise around GBP35.4 million to back the deal. It will issue 22.4 million shares at 158.00 pence per share. Shares in Trinity Mirror closed at 160.5 pence on Tuesday. The deal also will be backed by a new GBP80.0 million five-year debt facility, with GBP67.3 million from existing cash resources.
"This is a good day for local media. Local World is a business we know and respect and by combining it with Trinity Mirror we will create an organisation of scale, with the talent and financial capacity to invest and adapt to the rapidly changing media landscape. It is a vote of confidence in local press and its future," said Simon Fox, Trinity Mirror's chief executive.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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