Johnston Press up for sale with £220m of debt

THE owner of the ‘i’ newspaper has put itself up for sale in a last- ditch bid to tackle its £220m debt pile.

Johnston Press, which also publishes The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, acted after more than a year of speculation about its future and a review launched last year.

It has been trying to find ways to restructure or refinance its debts, which are due for repayment next June.

It owns more than 200 newspaper titles and their websites, employing around 2,000 staff.

Shares plunged 7.5pc yesterday after its announcement.

The company said: ‘In order to assess all options to maximise value to its stakeholders, the board has decided to seek offers for the company.’

In an email to staff yesterday, chief executive David King said: ‘This is about securing a positive future for Johnston Press. In the meantime, it is business as usual. I am certain that whatever the future ownership, we will continue to produce our titles long after the end of the strategic review.’

Johnston was founded in 1797. From the 1960s, it went on an acquisition spree and in 1988 it listed on the London Stock Exchange to raise more cash for takeovers.

Other well-known regional titles it has include the Edinburgh Evening News, and the Sheffield Star. Debts peaked at £ 780m in 2006 when it acquired The Scotsman for £ 160m. Ten years later, it bought the ‘i’ from the group which owned The Independent for £24m.

That has been seen as a success and in recent years Johnston Press has moved to rein in its debt. Potential bidders are thought to include other newspaper rivals, such as Reach and Archant.

Another could be activist shareholder Custos Group, headed by Norwegian entrepreneur Christen Ager-Hanssen, which owns more than 20pc of the group.

There was also speculation over whether bondholder Goldentree could seek a debtfor-equity deal.

Johnston said the sale would be split into two phases, with bidders asked to open talks with adviser Rothschild.

In its most recent trading update, revenues fell 10pc to £93m for the first half of 2018.

But it swung out of the red with interim profits of £6.2m compared to losses of £10.2m a year previously.