Daily Mail agrees sale of local paper arm

The owner of the Daily Mail today agreed the sale of its local newspaper arm in a deal that will create a new force in regional publishing with more than 100 titles.

Daily Mail and General Trust is selling its Northcliffe Media arm for £52.5m (€65.2m) to a new joint venture, called Local World, which will also combine the regional newspaper assets of Iliffe News & Media, which owns the Cambridge News.

Trinity Mirror – owner of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror – will take a 20% stake in Local World for £14.2m (€17.6m), it was announced.

The new group – worth around £100m (€124m) – will include 16 daily titles, 36 paid weekly titles, 40 free weekly titles and two Metro newspaper franchises.

It will also publish a portfolio of 63 local websites, with a monthly audience of more than seven million.

Northcliffe boss Steve Auckland will become chief executive of Local World, with tabloid veteran David Montgomery appointed chairman.