Brighton newspaper owner sold for £10m

The regional publishing company that owns the Brighton and Hove Independent has been sold for £10.2 million.

The deal will place JPi Media, formerly known as Johnston Press, in the hands of National World, which is run by newspaper veteran David Montgomery.

The new owner has appointed a former Sussex-based Johnston Press executive, Danny Cammiade, to the National World board.

JPi Media titles include the Yorkshire Post and the Scotsman as well as weekly papers in Worthing and Shoreham, Lewes, Eastbourne and throughout Sussex.

The publisher has more than a hundred other daily and weekly titles across the country and last year sold the i newspaper to DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail, for £50 million.

National World expects the completion of its purchase to happen on Saturday (2 January).

Mr Montgomery, a former national newspaper editor and ex-chief executive of the Mirror Group, was quoted as saying: “JPI’s historic publishing brands represent the best in journalism and have reliably served their communities and supported local businesses, in some cases for centuries, and never more than in the last year.

“National World will uphold this tradition and implement modern technology to grow the business across a wider footprint based on high-quality unique content.

“I am pleased with the appointment of Mark Hollinshead as chief commercial officer and welcome Daniel Cammiade to the board.

“We have a very experienced board with extensive knowledge in digital and print publishing to deliver our transformational strategy for growth.”

Publication of the Brighton and Hove Independent print edition was put on hold at the start of the first national coronavirus lockdown in the spring. The title is still available online.

JPi is estimated to have generated sales of £85 million in the past year and a profit of about £6 million.