Desmond to sell Westferry printing to Hollinger

by Claire Billings, Brand Republic 06-Feb-01

Express Newspapers owner Richard Desmond is understood to have agreed to sell his stake in the Westferry printing plant to Daily Telegraph publisher Hollinger, which co-owns the business.

LONDON (Brand Republic) – Express Newspapers owner Richard Desmond is understood to have agreed to sell his stake in the Westferry printing plant to Daily Telegraph publisher Hollinger, which co-owns the business.

Hollinger is exercising its contractual right to buy the 50% of the lucrative printing business it does not already own.

A sale of Desmond’s share of the business, which was acquired with the Express titles and Daily Star in November, will give his company Northern & Shell a much-needed cash boost. The company paid £125m for Express Newspapers, £97m of which was borrowed from Commerzbank.

Northern & Shell’s stake in the business, which prints The Financial Times, The Guardian, the Telegraph titles and the Express titles, is expected to fetch around £80m.