Third bid for INM’s South African assets

A third unsolicited bid has been lodged for the South African publishing assets of Independent News & Media, but management isn’t anticipating a sale to conclude before the end of the year.

Speaking at the publication of INM’s half-year results yesterday, group chief executive Vincent Crowley said that the latest bid is not as well-developed as the others, but the timeframe on a strategic decision would be “a number of months” and “towards the end of the year”.

When asked how much INM hoped to get for the business — which publishes 15 regional titles — Mr Crowley hinted that recent reports that the deal could halve INM’s €423.3m debt were not too wide of the mark.