The group agreed to sell its sports division for £170m in cash, around £30m less than it had originally hoped for, to Stradbrook Acquisitions, a company set up by Irish investment firm FL Partners. The figure is a multiple of 3.4 times 2006 revenues.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, owner of the rights to the title and joint-ruler of Dubai, has agreed to the sale. But as a condition of the transfer of the licence to use the Racing Post's trademark he has requested that Trinity Mirror donate £10m to four specified charities connected to the horse racing industry.
Trinity was expected to also sell its Midlands titles but has decided to hold onto this division after it did not receive any bids that matched the value it placed on the business. The group will instead focus on developing the portfolio both in print and digital.
Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror chief executive, said: "We believe it is now right to bring our disposal process to a close. The process will enable Trinity Mirror to go forward as a more tightly focussed media group, which is nimbler and more able to respond to the opportunities in its markets. It has also released a significant amount of capital, which we intend to return to shareholders.
"Throughout this process we made it clear that we were not prepared to sell our high quality media assets at any price. It is clear to us that offers for the businesses we are retaining in the Midlands and the South East did not reflect their true value. Conditions in debt markets have inevitably impacted on the positions of potential bidders."
The Midlands, south-eastern titles and sports division were forecast to be sold for a combined £400m, but Trinity's disposal process made just £263m in total.
In July, the company sold its Berkshire Regional Newspapers Group to Berkshire Media Group for £10m and 25 of its south-eastern regional papers to Northcliffe, a division of the Daily Mail & General Trust, for £64m.
This was followed in August by the sale of its South London Press, which owns the Streatham, Clapham and West Norwood Post, North London and Herts Newspapers, and Tindle Newspapers for £18.75m in cash.
Trinity said it remains confident that its 2007 performance will be in line with its expectations for the year.
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