The sale of Trinity Mirror's three UK national titles, which also include the Sunday Mirror and The People, has been the subject of debate within the industry for some time.
Bailey, who joined Trinity Mirror early this month from magazine publisher IPC Media, confirmed that the company had been approached with bids last year by venture capital firms Apex Venture Partners and Candover Partners, but the board rejected their bid of 450p a share as too low.
When asked whether she would sell the national titles, Bailey said the board would keep an open mind about any possible bids.
"We're here for the shareholders. The board regularly reviews the best way to do that, operationally and structurally," she said.
High-profile investors called on Trinity Mirror chairman Sir Victor Blank late last year to sell the titles, but the calls were resisted.
Tweedy Browne, which holds 6% of Trinity Mirror, is one of the groups pushing for a sale of the Daily Mirror. Tweedy Browne investors argue that there are simply no synergies between the national and regional titles.
However, Sir Victor has resisted attempts to sell the papers off because of the loss of prestige that would come with the loss of the group's national daily newspaper.
The case for selling off the national titles is that, although prestigious, they drag down the performance of the much better performing regional newspapers.
This was in evidence yesterday when Trinity Mirror reported a small rise in pre-tax profits to £155.5m. The regional titles had performed better. At the national newspapers, operating profit fell by £17.6m to £77.6m, partly as a result of the drop in advertising revenue and investment in the UK national titles. At the regionals, it was a different story. The regional newspaper operations achieved operating growth of 4.4% to £120.1m, despite turnover falling by 0.7% to £515.9m.
Trinity Mirror's regional newspapers include the Liverpool Daily Post and the Western Mail.
The Daily Mirror has struggled to attract new readers despite heavy investment in rebranding and price-cutting, which combined is believed to have cost the group more than £40m. Despite this, year-on-year sales of the Daily Mirror are down more than 3.4%.
The revamp of the Daily Mirror has seen it take a hostile stance to a war in Iraq and against America.
The position could backfire on the paper if British troops go into action. Its rival The Sun has strongly backed the US and British position and the troops in the Gulf.
However, Bailey said that she would not get in the way with the editorial stance fiercely against a war in Iraq. "It's the core position of the newspaper," Bailey said.
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