Trinity Mirror takes Birmingham Mail off sale

Oct 1 2007 By Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

MEDIA group Trinity Mirror today decided to withdraw the Birmingham Mail and other Midland titles from sale.

The decision came on the same day that the publisher announced it had sold its Sports Division, including the prestigious Racing Post, for £170 million.

This means the group's overall disposals programme will have raised a total of £263 million, as it sold seven other regional media businesses in London and the South East earlier this year for £93 million.

In a statement released to the Stock Market this morning, Trinity Mirror said that bids for its titles in the Midlands and its remaining South East titles "did not reflect their true value".

Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror chief executive, said: "We believe it is now right to bring our disposal process to a close.

"The process will enable Trinity Mirror to go forward as a more tightly focused media group, which is nimbler and more able to respond to the opportunities in its markets. It has also released a significant amount of capital, which we intend to return to shareholders."

Trinity Mirror's Sports Division is being acquired by Stradbrook Acquisitions Limited, a company established by FL Partners, an Irish investment boutique.

Trinity Mirror will pay £10 million to four specified charities connected to the horse-racing industry as a condition of the transfer of a licence to use the Racing Post trademark.

It agreed to do this at the suggestion of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who founded the Racing Post title in 1986.

Today's news follows a 10-month disposals programme by Trinity Mirror after a review of all its businesses last year.

It originally identified that its regional businesses in the Midlands, London and the South East and the Sports Division were potential candidates for disposal.

At the start of this process, the group considered that these assets would be worth more to other parties than to Trinity Mirror. However, ultimately it became clear that offers received for some of the group's assets did not reflect the board's assessment of their true value.

Ms Bailey added: "Throughout this process we made it clear that we were not prepared to sell our high quality media assets at any price.

"It is clear to us that offers for the businesses we are retaining in the Midlands and the South East did not reflect their true value. Conditions in the debt markets have inevitably impacted on the positions of potential bidders.

"We have therefore chosen to retain these businesses and to develop their market positions in both print and digital.

"They will also benefit from our new technology-led operating model, which is already having a significant impact on the profitability and performance of other Group businesses."