Cost-cutting Newsquest/Gannett goes on the acquisition trail

Newsquest, the US-owned regional newspaper group with more than 200 titles in the UK, has acquired 29 more by buying the Romanes Media group.

Romanes publishes one daily newspaper, the Greenock Telegraph in Scotland, plus 19 paid-for weeklies and nine weekly frees. Its portfolio includes several papers in Scotland, one major weekly in Northern Ireland - the Enniskillen-based Impartial Reporter - and a clutch of weeklies in Berkshire, such as the Reading Chronicle, Bracknell News and Slough Observer. It employs about 270 staff.

In a statement posted on the Newsquest website, its chief executive, Henry Faure Walker, said:

“Newsquest is focused on building one of the leading local multi-media publishing businesses in the UK, and I am delighted to welcome Romanes Media Group to the company.

We operate in separate markets but this portfolio of good quality weekly titles provides a strong fit with plenty of opportunity”.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, comes after years of cost-cutting by Newsquest, which is owned by one of America’s largest media conglomerates, Gannett.

Its main titles include The Herald in Glasgow, the Northern Echo in Darlington, the Southern Echo in Southampton, the Oxford Mail, Brighton Argus and The Press in York.

The Romanes group originated with the Dunfermline Press, which was founded by the Romanes family in 1859. Its more recent history has, to say the least, been interesting.

From 1984 until her death, aged 60, in 2010 the Fife-based company was led by Deirdre Romanes whose husband, Iain, was a fifth-generation member of the founding family.

During her time in charge, Romanes expanded the company by buying titles in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Berkshire.

But the acquisitions proved expensive. For example, three Irish groups - the Meath Chronicle, Anglo Celt and Westmeath Examiner - cost €65m (£52.2m).

Like other regional publishers hit by recession and the decline of advertising and readership, the company then found itself in financial difficulty.

It went into receivership and the situation was compounded by a lengthy argument and court battle over Romanes’s will that was not settled until 2014.

By then, the group had been subject to a management buyout by a trio of directors, one of whom was John Allwood, the former Mirror group CEO, Telegraph group managing director and Orange UK chief.

They oversaw a renegotiation of the group’s debt burden and disposed of its Irish division at a substantial loss, securing just €5.5m (£4.4m) for the papers.

HoldTheFrontPage reports that it has seen an annoucement to Romanes staff by managing director Graham Morrison, one of the buyout trio.

He says he “will be accompanying Newsquest senior directors on visits around our regional offices” over the next couple of days in order for them “to meet with local management and staff, and acquaint themselves with the business”.

He added: “All parties involved are looking to make this transition as smooth as possible, and I trust that you will demonstrate the same level of professionalism and commitment as we continue to operate and drive the business forward”.