GMG sells arm of its business

The parent company of GMG Radio has announced they are to sell their Regional Media division to Trinity Mirror.

This means titles like The Manchester Evening News will no longer be part of the GMG, potentially ending some of the key partnerships they have with Real, Smooth and Rock Radio in the Northwest.

The £44.8m sale includes the whole of GMG’s local and regional newspaper portfolio, which includes 32 titles across the country in the two subsidiary companies of MEN Media and S&B Media. Assets that will not be part of the sale include Channel M and local papers in Woking.

The deal was announced this morning to staff and it is expected to make Trinity the new dominant media player in the Northwest of England. It also ends a historic bond with The Guardian, as the papers roots lie within the history of the Manchester Evening News.

Mark Dodson, chief executive of GMG Regional Media and a key player in bringing John Myers in to form the radio side of GMG is to leave the company, as is Ruth Spratt, Chief Executive of MEN Media.