Trinity Mirror rejects £210m offer for Racing Post by former minister

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 14-Mar-05, 11:00

LONDON – Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, has rejected a £210m bid for the Racing Post from a financial consortium including former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and venture capitalist Warburg Pincus.

Trinity Mirror has said the paper is not for sale, but newspaper reports claim that an improved bid could be accepted because Trinity does not see it as a core asset.

Cook, Labour MP for Livingston, is a keen punter and supplements his political income by writing a monthly column in the title.

It is part of Trinity Mirror's sporting publishing division and sells around 76,000 copies a day. It is reported to have made an operating profit of around £17.5m last year.

Cook said: "The Racing Post is my favourite newspaper. I am happy to help out the owners in whatever way I can now and in the future. I want the paper to survive, whether it's with Trinity Mirror or not."

The title is the latest media property to attract the interest of the private equity sector, which has a lot of spare cash and is searching for investment opportunities.

ITV, The Wireless Group, Virgin Radio and Trinity Mirror itself have all been recent subjects of private equity interest.

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