Trinity Mirror faces HotGroup counter bid from Beano publisher

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 05-Sep-05, 08:30

LONDON - Trinity Mirror could face competition in its bid for recruitment website HotGroup after reports that rival publisher DC Thomson, owner of the Beano, is to make a counter bid.

Trinity Mirror confirmed last week it had made a £50.5m offer for the group that had been accepted by its directors, valuing each share at 20.25p.

However, Scotland on Sunday reports that DC Thomson has been buying up chunks of shares in Hotgroup since July, and continued to buy stock in the company even after Trinity Mirror's offer was confirmed. The newspaper reports that the Dundee-based DC Thomson now owns 3.75% of the company, and has been paying as much as 20p a share.

Other reports say that if an offer is made valuing HotGroup at 10% more than Trinity Mirror's offer, then a bidding war could begin. Other potential bidders could include Daily Mail & General Trust, which has been increasing its investment in online recruitment sites, and Johnson Press, the local media group.

HotGroup was founded in 1999 and has grown by making several acquisitions, most recently Workthing.com from Guardian Media Group for £6.7m. Its other sites include Hotrecruit.com, Planetrecruit.com and Jobsfinancial.com.

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