Johnston Press acquires The Scotsman from Barclay brothers

Johnston Press acquires The Scotsman from Barclay brothers

In a deal worth around £160m, Johnston Press has announced its decision to acquire The Scotsman newspaper and other titles from the Barclay brothers. Apart from The Scotsman, the deal includes other entities like Edinburgh Evening News, Scotland on Sunday, and the free Edinburgh Herald & Post. They are currently the fourth largest publisher of local and regional newspapers in the UK.

Scotsman Publications is quite popular in the region and has a total weekly paid-for circulation of 840,000. They also have a weekly free distribution of 254,000 supported by advertisements. Even the online version of the Scotsman newspaper is very popular amongst the web users with more than three million unique users and more than 20 million page impressions in its most recent ABC audit.

The Scotsman Publications reported a profit before interest and tax of £7.7m on turnover of £63.5m in the last financial year. Johnston chief executive Tim Bowdler said in a statement on this deal: “Scotsman Publications comprises one of Scotland’s highest quality newspaper portfolios and The Scotsman and its website Scotsman.com are amongst Scotland’s best known newspaper and internet brands.”

He added: “With its Scottish heritage, Johnston Press is particularly pleased to have reached agreement to acquire Scotsman Publications.” The Barclay Brothers had earlier acquired this group around eight years ago but faced growing challenges from the new age media.