The formal takeover of National World, publishers of the Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post and numerous
Yorkshire weekly titles, by the Irish firm Media Concierge group is not now to be completed until the end of April.
The delay is to allow regulatory approval by the Republic of Ireland Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
They said in this week that they needed more time to consider the proposed deal, with media minister and
Fina Gail politician Patrick O’Donovan having the final say.
A Stock Exchange statement from NW said buyers Media Concierge “remained confident” the acquisition would be approved.
NW executive chairman David Montgomery said Media Concierge had expected the CCPC to fast-track the takeover, adding that the review would take at least six more weeks.
He wrote to staff the day the delay was announced to explain that Ireland requires mandatory reviews of all competition-related matters as part of any media acquisition or merger affecting the island of Ireland.
A formal hearing on March 6 was due to confirm the sale with NW shares stopping trading the next day.
If approved, the transfer will see the disappearance of the public limited company (plc) quoted on the London
Stock Exchange as all the shares are transferred to a new private limited company.
Media Concierge founder and owner Malcolm Denmark has created a new wholly-owned subsidiary for his empire – Neo Media Publishing Ltd – to take over National World’s assets.
News Concierge said NW was a “strong business” whose performance “would be enhanced” as a private rather than public company.
Such restructuring would mean the National World registered office which had been at No 1 Leeds, on Whitehall
Road, when the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post had office space there, and more recently at Joseph’s Well, would not be needed.
Neo Media, which was registered with Companies House in November last year, has its formal headquarters in London’s West End.
The takeover was approved by shareholders in January after four weeks of speculation. In a Stock Exchange
statement, NW said 99.91 per cent – 25 of 26 shareholders – had voted for the deal. The final price was £65.1 million or 23p per share, increased from an initial offer of £56.2 million in last autumn.
Media Concierge said they did not plan to close any titles or make “material” reductions in production or cut jobs and that it would “invest in the company’s editorial output”.
Whether direct links will be established between NW titles and Media Concierge’s Iconic Media group of 23 local papers and 23 websites was not revealed.