Johnston Press completes £170m cash call

by Daniel Farey-Jones Brand Republic 24-Jun-08, 10:55

LONDON - Newspaper group Johnston Press has successfully raised almost £170m from its shareholders after its rights issue completed, albeit slightly undersubscribed.

Just over 97% of the new shares were taken up, giving the Yorkshire Post and Scotsman owner the cash it required to reduce its debt amid tougher conditions in the advertising and debt markets.

The rights issue was announced in May alongside the sale of a 20% stake in the company to Malaysian media company Usaha Tegas, which is backed by billionaire Ananda Krishnan.

Usaha Tegas paid Johnston Press an additional £42.7m for new shares as well as buying shares from trusts owned by the Johnston family. The family's total shareholding was reduced from 19.5% to 7.6%.

Johnston Press shares are now trading at 68.25p, down 4.9% from the close last night.

The rights issue offered news shares on a one-for-one basis at 53p, which was a 61% discount to the closing price on May 13.

Another media company, UTV, which owns TalkSport and Ulster Television, earlier this month announced a rights issue aimed at raising £46.7m.