Northcliffe Media, the owner of the Leicester Mercury and thisisleicestershire, is being sold to a newly-formed media group Local World, it has been announced today.
The deal was announced by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) and will see it sell all 77 of its regional titles and hundreds of local websites.
In return it will receive more than £50 million cash and a 39 per cent stake in Local World, which will be led by David Montgomery.
DMGT will be the single largest shareholder in Local World alongside Yattendon Group, owner of Iliffe News & Media, as well as Trinity Mirror and a number of strategic financial investors.
In a letter to employees this morning, Lord Rothermere said: "For everyone who works at Northcliffe, we believe Local World, with DMGT as its largest shareholder and led by Steve Auckland as Chief Executive, will be a good guardian of these assets. It is acquiring this business to expand it. The new company will also seize new opportunities in the fast-growing world of digital information".
David Montgomery, one of the most experienced media executives in the UK, will be Chairman of Local World. Steve Auckland, formerly Managing Director of Metro, Yorkshire Post Newspapers and Northcliffe Media, will be Group Chief Executive. Rachel Addison, currently Chief Financial Officer of Northcliffe, will assume the same role at Local World. They will be supported by a management team drawn from Northcliffe Media and Iliffe News & Media.
Announcing the new venture, David Montgomery said: "This is an entirely new type of media business. The value of Local World will lie in its people, its franchises and its IP. It will be unencumbered by the infrastructure of the industrial past such as property, printing presses and large scale distribution or any legacy issues such as high levels of debt. Local World signals the fight back in Britain's regional media industry."
DMGT is to publish full-year earnings on Thursday.
