LIVERPOOL Post owner Trinity Mirror has today announced a deal to take a 20% stake in a new newspaper publishing group.
Local World has bought the regional publishing and website interests in Northcliffe Media, owned by the Daily Mail, and Iliffe News and Media.
It amounts to 16 daily titles, 36 paid weekly titles, 40 free weekly titles, two Metro franchises with a weekly reach of six million people, and 63 local websites with a monthly audience of more than seven million unique users.
The portfolio includes the Leicester Mercury, the Bristol Post and the Derby Telegraph.
Trinity Mirror has paid £14.2m for its stake in a deal which is expected to complete by the end of the year. The investment is expected to be earnings enhancing in its first full year.
Simon Fox, Trinity Mirror chief executive, said the acquisition will provide new opportunities for the group in contract printing and national advertising sales.
