Northern & Shell clinches Express Newspapers
Northern & Shell is understood to have sealed a deal worth £125m with United News & Media that will see the publisher of soft porn magazines Asian Babes and Exotic Stories and celebrity title OK! take over the Express Newspaper Group.
LONDON (Brand Republic) – Northern & Shell is understood to have sealed a deal worth £125m with United News & Media that will see the publisher of soft porn magazines Asian Babes and Exotic Stories and celebrity title OK! take over the Express Newspaper Group.
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The news comes just days after Northern & Shell, which also owns adult TV channel The Fantasy Channel, entered the bidding against original favourites, Indian industrial conglomerate the Hinduja Group.
Hinduja, led by four Indian-born billionaire brothers, had offered an indicative bid of between £100 and £120m for the business and had been seen as favourites.
However, a spokesperson for the group said, as far it knew, Hinduja was still in a serious position to acquire Express Newspapers.
The Daily Mail & General Trust had made a similar indicative offer of between £100m and £120m, but United demanded that it paid a £60m deposit before it could view sensitive financial data about its mid-market tabloid rival. This prompted DMGT to pull out.
Northern & Shell is understood to want the Express Group, which includes the Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star, because it believes it could strengthen the company ahead of its stock market flotation next year.
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