Trinity Mirror Buys Manchester Evening News
February 9th, 2010 by Rob Brown
The Manchester Evening News and its associated titles have been acquired by Trinity Mirror for £45 million in a deal announced today. It spells the end of the long association between the Guardian (once The Manchester Guardian) and the MEN.
Sly Bailey, Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror , commented: “GMG Regional Media is a perfect strategic fit for our Group. This acquisition, which includes the Manchester Evening News with its proud and rich journalistic heritage, together with the weekly titles and associated websites extends our reach across print and online and is a further step towards our strategic goal of creating a multi-media business of real scale.” The deal doesn’t include the TV station Channel M.
If you drill down into the detail of the deal, £37.4 million is to realease the papers from a long term printing contract - but it is still a lot of money to pay for a regional title when the sector is under so much pressure. The deal may be good news for the title because it moves from a group that does not really believe in the future of regional print to one that is committed to it. For that reason it probably ensures a longer future for the MEN but whether Trinity can stem the flow of advertising and readers away from regional newspapers in the long term is quite a different question.
