THE owners of the Irish Times are understood to have progressed with talks about acquiring the Cork-based Irish Examiner in a move which would give it a combined daily newspaper sale of around 90,000.
It is reported that the buy-out has been agreed in principal, although final details such as staffing and costs are still being finalised, and any deal will be subject to approval by the Republic's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Irish Times DAC, which publishes the Irish Times (daily circulation 62,423), yesterday confirmed its interest in buying the Examiner (28,338 daily sales) from Landmark Media.
Its managing director Liam Kavanagh insisted though: “There is a lot of water to flow under the bridge yet”.
There is little cross-over in sales of the two papers, with The Irish Times garnering most of its sales in Dublin, while the Examiner's demographic is primarily the Munster region.
The Irish Examiner had be linked to a sale to Sunday Business Post's parent company Key Capital, as well as to the Independent News & Media company.
But the fact the Times already has the contract to print the Irish Examiner is believed to have given it the edge in any acquisition.
