Desmond in talks with buyer to sell porn empire

by Claire Billings, Brand Republic 09-May-01, 15:26

Richard Desmond, owner of Express Newspapers, is understood to have entered into exclusive negotiations with a single buyer for his stable of porn magazines.

Two other companies are believed to be interested in the titles, which include Forum, Big Ones and Asian Babes.

Desmond is said to be hoping to raise around £20m from the sale of titles. He is expected to plough some of the proceeds of the sale into Express Newspapers -- he has so far been criticised for cost cutting and losing key members of editorial staff.

Not included in the sale is his X-rated TV station, the Fantasy Channel. In 1999, the channel posted profits of £2.5m while the publishing empire lost £860m according to accounts at Companies House.

The Daily Express has lost 100,000 readers since November when Desmond took over, and sales have since fallen below the cherished 1m mark. In the March round of ABC figures, the Daily Express recorded a circulation figure of 974,714.