[A-List] UK news media: Herald newspapers

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

While it's good that both the Guardian and especially the Daily Mail have
dropped out of this race, other awful prospects remain. The Barclay Brothers
have overseen the demise of Robert Maxwell's "European", the "Sunday
Business" (once), and now the precipitous decline of the once-respectable
"Scotsman". The common link in this is former Murdoch henchman Andrew
"Brillo Pad" Neil, an anti-establishment establishmentarian of the kind who
had such a natural affinity with Thatcherism. The other looming presence is
another former Murdoch henchman, David Montgomery, an Ulster unionist with a
dreadful labour relations track record surpassing that of even Robert
Maxwell. 3i, "Investors in Industry", the group Montgomery is supposedly
fronting, was for many years led by former MI5 officer (and mentor of Harold
Wilson-persecutor Peter Wright) "Sir" John Cuckney, who lurked in the deep
recesses of the arms trade for decades whilst also pursuing a career in
merchant banking. He came to light most famously during the Westland affair
of 1985/6 (posts passim), but since then won acclaim for overseeing the
cleaning up of the Maxwell pensions scandal at the same time as Montgomery
was overseeing the restructuring of Maxwell's Mirror Group. Small world,
indeed.

Since so many good quality reports have been coming out of the Sunday Herald
of late concerning Iraq, for example, it's reasonable to assume that these
will continue "for a limited period only", unless some kind of white knight
emerges. We know enough about British newspapers to know that the Guardian
hardly fits that role, especially now that it has cosied up in public to
MI5, with its serialisation of the incredibly mundane "memoirs" of former
chief Stella Rimington.


Mail and Guardian drop out of 'Herald' auction
By Saeed Shah
The Independent, 10 October 2002

Daily Mail & General Trust and Guardian Media Group appear to have dropped
out of the running for the Herald newspapers after the bidding reached a
level that they were not prepared to pay.

The media companies, which were seen as front-runners for The Herald and
Sunday Herald, have "stepped back" from the process following the first
round of bids. SMG put the titles up for sale last month.

It is possible that DMGT and GMG could re-enter the race for the
200-year-old Glasgow papers but not if the price remains at the current
level. For the moment the two companies, which declined to comment, are
among several groups that had expressed interest but are no longer in the
contest.

Some eight bidders have emerged from the first round of the auction, with
the Barclay brothers understood to have tabled the highest offer of £220m.
There are believed to be one or two other offers at more than £200m.

One industry source: "DMGT is not doing anything further right now but they
are still on the periphery. Something north of £200m may be justifiable for
some people but it does not make sense for them. It is not a must-have for
DMGT."

DMGT owns the Aberdeen-based Press & Journal and has a printing contract
with the Herald's plant but it does not believe there are major synergies in
owning the SMG titles.

The Barclays, who own The Scotsman newspaper, would face the most formidable
regulatory hurdles but they have bid through their Ellerman Investments
vehicle. This tactic attempts to separate the bid from the ownership of
Scotsman Publications.

It is thought that some regional newspaper groups remain in the race for The
Herald , probably Gannett, Johnston Press and Archant. Also still in the
running is a consortium that includes Independent News & Media, publisher of
The Independent, and a financial backer.

Among the private-equity players, David Montgomery, the former chief
executive of Mirror Group, is fronting a 3i bid, while Chris Oakley,
formerly of Regional Independent Media, is heading a bid from Candover.