Reclusive UK twin tycoons, Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay are selling their Scottish newspaper titles in a £160 million ($282m; €236m) deal.
Flagship paper The Scotsman, together with the Edinburgh Evening News, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Herald & Post and others have been acquired by Johnston Press, the fourth largest publisher of local and regional newspapers in the UK.
The buy-out of Scotsman Publications from Press Holdings Group will also deliver the flagship newspaper's website to Edinburgh-headquartered Johnston Press, which says the acquisition is "an attractive and complementary addition to its existing print and online portfolio".
Comments Press Holdings publisher Andrew Neil: "We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Johnston Press which not only recognises the value and improvements we have added to the titles over the decade but secures their long-term future."
The billionaire brothers also own the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles, bought from troubled Hollinger International eighteen months ago against the wishes of ousted chairman/ceo Lord Conrad Black [WAMN: 01-June-04].
Data sourced from BBC Online; additional content by WARC staff
