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.