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| Trinity Mirror in merger talks with Express Newspapers | Trinity Mirror in merger talks with Express Newspapers |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| The Daily Mirror’s parent company is back in talks with Richard Desmond in a potential deal to take a stake in Express Newspapers, the owner of the Express and the Star. | The Daily Mirror’s parent company is back in talks with Richard Desmond in a potential deal to take a stake in Express Newspapers, the owner of the Express and the Star. |
| Trinity Mirror, the owner of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, is understood to have reignited talks to potentially merge parts of their businesses. | Trinity Mirror, the owner of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, is understood to have reignited talks to potentially merge parts of their businesses. |
| The two companies held talks about a potential deal two years ago, which at that time focused on a full sale of the newspapers to Trinity Mirror. The negotiations fizzled out, however, with disagreements over price and the significant pension deficit carried by Desmond’s titles. | The two companies held talks about a potential deal two years ago, which at that time focused on a full sale of the newspapers to Trinity Mirror. The negotiations fizzled out, however, with disagreements over price and the significant pension deficit carried by Desmond’s titles. |
| Trinity Mirror’s share price has fallen 42% in the last year, and the company is expected to make a statement to the stockmarket on Tuesday confirming that very early-stage talks have begun. | Trinity Mirror’s share price has fallen 42% in the last year, and the company is expected to make a statement to the stockmarket on Tuesday confirming that very early-stage talks have begun. |
| One source with knowledge of the negotiations, which are thought to have started late last year, said that at this stage they were focused on Trinity Mirror potentially taking a minority stake in Express Newspapers. This would lead to a merging of back office and sales operations to make significant savings. | |
| The talks come as UK national newspaper publishers including Trinity Mirror, the Telegraph, the Sun and Times owner News UK and the Guardian explore combining print and digital sales to fight back against the growing dominance of Google and Facebook. | The talks come as UK national newspaper publishers including Trinity Mirror, the Telegraph, the Sun and Times owner News UK and the Guardian explore combining print and digital sales to fight back against the growing dominance of Google and Facebook. |
| Express Newspapers is not involved in the intiative, called Project Juno. | Express Newspapers is not involved in the intiative, called Project Juno. |
| In May last year, the firm reported it had more than tripled pre-tax profits in 2015 to £30.5m after slashing staff and printing costs. | |
| Desmond has been thinning his media portfolio in recent years, selling Channel 5 to MTV’s owner, Viacom, for £463m in 2014. | Desmond has been thinning his media portfolio in recent years, selling Channel 5 to MTV’s owner, Viacom, for £463m in 2014. |
| He also sold his adult TV business in April last year, including the Television X and Red Hot channels, severing his last link with the industry that helped make him a billionaire. He sold his adult magazine titles including Asian Babes and Big Ones for around £20m in 2004. | He also sold his adult TV business in April last year, including the Television X and Red Hot channels, severing his last link with the industry that helped make him a billionaire. He sold his adult magazine titles including Asian Babes and Big Ones for around £20m in 2004. |
| Desmond acquired Express Newspapers in 2000 for £125m. His Northern & Shell business also owns assets including OK! magazine, which was included in the sale talks two years ago, and the loss-making Health Lottery. | Desmond acquired Express Newspapers in 2000 for £125m. His Northern & Shell business also owns assets including OK! magazine, which was included in the sale talks two years ago, and the loss-making Health Lottery. |
| Last year, Trinity Mirror looked at buying Evgeny Lebedev’s i newspaper, the cut price national newspaper originally launched to support the Independent. It was outbid by the regional publisher Johnston Press, which acquired i for £24.4m last February. | Last year, Trinity Mirror looked at buying Evgeny Lebedev’s i newspaper, the cut price national newspaper originally launched to support the Independent. It was outbid by the regional publisher Johnston Press, which acquired i for £24.4m last February. |
| Lebedev closed the print editions of the Independent and Independent on Sunday the following month. | Lebedev closed the print editions of the Independent and Independent on Sunday the following month. |
| In a bid to drive growth in the national newspaper market - like other publishers Trinity has seen consistent double-digit declines in print advertising - the company moved to launch its own low-cost title in May. New Day, which had a £5m launch with the tagline “Seize the New Day”, closed after just two months. | In a bid to drive growth in the national newspaper market - like other publishers Trinity has seen consistent double-digit declines in print advertising - the company moved to launch its own low-cost title in May. New Day, which had a £5m launch with the tagline “Seize the New Day”, closed after just two months. |
| When the last talks between Desmond and Trinity Mirror broke down, the Mirror publisher secured a £220m deal to buy the regional newspaper publisher Local World. | When the last talks between Desmond and Trinity Mirror broke down, the Mirror publisher secured a £220m deal to buy the regional newspaper publisher Local World. |
| The deal added more than 100 regional newspaper titles to Trinity Mirror’s existing 130 local papers, spanning titles from the Nottingham Post and Cambridge News to the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo. | The deal added more than 100 regional newspaper titles to Trinity Mirror’s existing 130 local papers, spanning titles from the Nottingham Post and Cambridge News to the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo. |
| Trinity Mirror and Northern & Shell declined to comment. | Trinity Mirror and Northern & Shell declined to comment. |