28 October 2015 – acquisition
The group has confirmed the purchase of Local World, one of the largest regional news publishers in the UK, for total consideration of just over £187m. The consideration will be satisfied mainly in cash and to help fund this the company has successfully placed 22.4m shares in the company at 158p to raise £35.4m. The deal will make Trinity Mirror the UK’s largest regional news publisher and enhance its digital reach with publishing websites delivering 120m monthly unique browsers and 790m monthly page views. Cost synergies of between £10m/£12m are expected in the second full year of ownership and the transaction is expected to be earnings enhancing in its first full year following the acquisition. This looks like a good deal for the company and we maintain our recommendation of BUY.