Trinity Mirror has confirmed this morning, that it is to acquire the Express titles from Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell.
The deal would be worth £126.7m and would involve subsidiary Northern & Shell Network Limited (“NSNL), which holds the publishing assets of the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday, OK!, New! and Star.
It will also hold a 50% equity interest in Independent Star Ltd.
Trinity will make pay a cash sum of £47.7m immediately, with a deferred cash offering of £59.0 million payable between 2020 – 2023. The balance of £20m will be through a sale of 25.8m ordinary shares. Trinity will also make a one-off payment of £41.2m to the Northern & Shell pension scheme.
“The Express Newspapers and our celebrity magazine titles have been a key part of the Northern & Shell portfolio for many years, and I am immensely proud of building them into one of the largest newspaper and magazine groups in the UK,” said Richard Desmond, chairman of Northern & Shell.
“Today’s transformational transaction is a logical and natural next step in the evolution and consolidation of the media sector and will create a larger and stronger platform serving all stakeholders. In Trinity Mirror we have a great partner, who will be an excellent steward of the business going forward and I am delighted to be able to retain an ongoing interest in the combined group.”
