Johnston Press

Johnston Press was a British newspaper and multimedia company headquartered historically in Falkirk, Scotland. Its roots were associated with the Johnston family's printing activities and a publishing business established in the eighteenth century. The family entered newspaper ownership in 1846 by acquiring control of the Falkirk Herald, a title that became the company's first major publishing asset and an enduring part of its regional identity. The company operated under the name F Johnston & Co Ltd for much of its private-company history and expanded through a long series of regional newspaper acquisitions. Important steps included control of Strachan & Livingston in 1970, the acquisition of Wilfred Edmunds Ltd and the Yorkshire Weekly Newspaper Group in the late 1970s, and purchases of titles in West Sussex, Halifax, and elsewhere during the 1980s and 1990s. Johnston Press became a publicly traded company in 1988, adopting the Johnston Press name at the time of its flotation on the London Stock Exchange. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the group pursued an acquisition-led strategy focused on local and regional newspapers. It acquired newspaper interests from EMAP in 1996, Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers in 1999, and Regional Independent Media Holdings in 2002. The company expanded into Ireland in 2005 through purchases involving Local Press, Score Press, and the Leinster Leader Group. In 2006 it acquired The Scotsman Publications, bringing The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Evening News, and Edinburgh Herald & Post into its portfolio. These transactions made Johnston Press one of the United Kingdom's largest regional newspaper publishers. Its portfolio included hundreds of print and digital publications at different points. Prominent titles included the Scottish national newspapers The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, the national daily i, the Yorkshire Post, the Falkirk Herald, The News Letter in Belfast, and numerous local newspapers across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man. The group also operated associated websites and developed digital advertising and publishing services. In 2014 it launched 1XL, a digital advertising agency established with other media companies, reflecting the industry's shift away from dependence on print advertising. Johnston Press continued to reshape its portfolio through disposals and acquisitions. It sold its Republic of Ireland titles to Iconic Newspapers in 2014. In 2016 it purchased the i newspaper from Independent Print, paying £24 million, and positioned the title as a national-scale print and digital property alongside its regional publications. It later sold its three Isle of Man titles to Tindle Newspapers and transferred thirteen newspapers in the East Midlands and East Anglia to Iliffe Media. The group also secured a contract to print weekday editions of the Daily Mail at its Portsmouth facility after the closure of another printing site. The company ultimately became unable to sustain its debt burden in a difficult newspaper market marked by declining print circulation, reduced advertising revenue, and the cost of maintaining a large publishing and printing estate. In October 2018 it announced that it was seeking a sale while carrying approximately £200 million of debt and having a much smaller market capitalization. On 16 November 2018 Johnston Press announced that it would enter administration after failing to find a buyer able to refinance approximately £220 million of debt. Its shares were delisted on 19 November. A pre-packaged administration transferred the operating businesses and publishing assets to JPIMedia, a special-purpose vehicle controlled by a consortium of creditors. The transaction was announced on 17 November 2018 and reduced the group's debt to approximately £85 million while providing a reported £35 million of new investment. The transfer ended Johnston Press plc as an independent listed company, although many of its newspapers and websites continued under JPIMedia and later successor ownership structures. The brand therefore represents both a long-running regional newspaper business and the corporate entity that preceded the creditor-led restructuring of its publishing assets.

Johnston Press developed from a long-established printing and family publishing business in Falkirk. Although the company traced its institutional history to 1767, the Johnston family was involved in printing from 1797. Its decisive move into newspaper publishing came in 1846, when it gained control of the Falkirk Herald. The company remained based in Falkirk for roughly the next century and a half. The family business was renamed F Johnston & Co Ltd in 1882. It retained that name until its public flotation in 1988, when it became Johnston Press and began trading on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol JPR. The company expanded primarily through acquisitions of local and regional publishers. It took control of Strachan & Livingston in 1970, acquired Wilfred Edmunds Ltd in Chesterfield and the Yorkshire Weekly Newspaper Group in the late 1970s, and added the West Sussex County Times in 1988. Further purchases included the Halifax Evening Courier in 1994 and newspaper assets from EMAP in 1996. The expansion accelerated at the end of the twentieth century. Johnston Press acquired Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers in 1999 and Regional Independent Media Holdings in 2002. In 2005 it entered the Irish market by buying Local Press, the newspaper interests of Scottish Radio Holdings known as Score Press, and the Leinster Leader Group. These transactions gave the company a broad portfolio across Britain and Ireland. In 2006 Johnston Press acquired The Scotsman Publications. The transaction added The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Evening News, and Edinburgh Herald & Post, strengthening the group's position in Scottish national and metropolitan publishing. The company subsequently operated a mixture of national, regional, and community titles, supported by online editions, advertising operations, and printing facilities. The publishing industry was undergoing structural change as readers and advertisers moved from print to digital media. Johnston Press responded by developing digital operations and, in 2014, launching 1XL, a digital advertising agency formed with partners including Local World and Newsquest. It also changed the composition of its portfolio. Its Republic of Ireland titles were sold to Iconic Newspapers in 2014. In 2016 the group acquired the national daily i for £24 million, completing the transaction on 10 April. The purchase gave Johnston Press a major national title and increased the scale of its combined print and online audience. The company continued to dispose of selected assets. In July 2016 it sold its three Isle of Man titles to Tindle Newspapers. In January 2017 it sold thirteen titles in the East Midlands and East Anglia to Iliffe Media. At the same time, Johnston Press obtained a contract to print the Monday-to-Saturday Daily Mail at its Portsmouth Web facility after the closure of Associated Newspapers' Didcot printing site. By 2018, however, the group faced substantial financial pressure. In October it announced that it was seeking a sale while carrying debt of about £200 million and having a market capitalization of approximately £3 million. On 16 November Johnston Press said it would enter administration because it had not found a suitable buyer to refinance debt reported at approximately £220 million. The shares were delisted from the London Stock Exchange on 19 November. The administration used a pre-packaged sale structure. On 17 November the company's titles and other operating assets were transferred to JPIMedia, a creditor-controlled special-purpose vehicle. The creditor consortium included CarVal, Fidelity, Benefit Street Partners, and GoldenTree Asset Management. The restructuring reportedly reduced debt to £85 million and included £35 million of new investment. The transaction was criticized by Johnston Press's largest shareholder, and the circumstances were discussed in Parliament, but the transfer proceeded. Johnston Press plc ceased to operate as an independent listed publisher, while JPIMedia continued publishing many of the inherited newspapers and maintaining associated digital services.

• 2018

  Administration and transfer to JPIMedia

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The company entered administration and transferred its businesses and assets to creditor-controlled JPIMedia.

• 2016

  Acquisition of the i

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Johnston Press completed its £24 million purchase of the i, adding a national daily newspaper to its portfolio.

• 2014

  Launch of 1XL and Irish disposals

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Johnston Press launched the 1XL digital advertising agency and sold its Republic of Ireland titles to Iconic Newspapers.

• 2006

  Acquisition of The Scotsman Publications

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The company acquired The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Evening News, and Edinburgh Herald & Post.

• 2005

  Expansion into Ireland

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The group entered the Irish market through acquisitions involving Local Press, Score Press, and the Leinster Leader Group.

• 1996

  Acquisition of EMAP newspaper interests

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Johnston Press acquired newspaper interests from EMAP, expanding its regional portfolio.

• 1988

  Public flotation and Johnston Press name

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The company adopted the Johnston Press name and floated on the London Stock Exchange.

• 1970

  Acquisition of Strachan & Livingston

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Johnston Press took control of the Fife-based publisher Strachan & Livingston.

• 1882

  Business adopts F Johnston & Co Ltd name

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The family publishing operation was renamed F Johnston & Co Ltd.

• 1846

  First newspaper acquisition

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The Johnston family gained control of the Falkirk Herald, the company's first newspaper acquisition.

• 1767

  Institutional origins traced to Falkirk

  [1]Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Johnston Press later identified its history with a publishing and printing enterprise founded in Falkirk in 1767.

A large regional newspaper and multimedia publisher built around local journalism, national Scottish titles, community publishing, digital news, advertising, and newspaper-printing operations.

• National Scottish newspaper

  The Scotsman

  A major Scottish newspaper acquired by Johnston Press in 2006 through its purchase of The Scotsman Publications. It formed part of the group's Scottish national publishing portfolio alongside Scotland on Sunday and was supported by digital news and advertising operations.

• Sunday newspaper

  Scotland on Sunday

  The Sunday companion to The Scotsman and one of the principal Scottish titles brought into Johnston Press through the 2006 acquisition of The Scotsman Publications.

• National daily newspaper · 2010

  i

  A compact national daily newspaper acquired by Johnston Press in 2016 for £24 million. The acquisition broadened the company's reach beyond its traditional regional base and added a national print and digital news brand to its portfolio.

• Regional newspaper

  Yorkshire Post

  A prominent Yorkshire regional newspaper associated with Johnston Press's large portfolio of English local and regional titles.

• Local newspaper

  Falkirk Herald

  Johnston Press's first newspaper acquisition, obtained by the Johnston family in 1846. The title connected the later national publishing group with its Falkirk origins and long-standing Scottish community-news base.

• Regional newspaper

  The News Letter

  A Belfast-based newspaper included among Johnston Press's Northern Ireland publishing interests. Its geographic readership and editorial coverage extended beyond the immediate city market.

• Digital advertising service · 2014

  1XL

  A digital advertising agency launched in 2014 with participation from Johnston Press and other media companies. It represented an effort to build scalable digital commercial services alongside traditional newspaper publishing.

• 2018

  Administration and creditor-led restructuringOther

  Background

  Johnston Press could not find a suitable buyer able to refinance approximately £220 million of debt. The company had announced a sale process while its market capitalization had fallen to about £3 million.

  Action taken

  The company entered administration and transferred its operating businesses and assets through a pre-packaged transaction to JPIMedia, a special-purpose vehicle controlled by creditors.

  Aftermath

  Debt was reportedly reduced to £85 million and creditors provided £35 million of investment. Johnston Press was delisted and ceased to exist as an independent listed company, while its titles continued under JPIMedia.

  Debt reduction and new investment. Approximately £220 million of debt → Approximately £85 million of debt and £35 million investment (November 2018)

  Source

• 2016

  Purchase of the i newspaperM&A

  Background

  Johnston Press was seeking to expand beyond regional publishing while print and digital media markets were undergoing structural change.

  Action taken

  The company agreed to acquire the i for £24 million and completed the transaction on 10 April 2016.

  Aftermath

  The deal added a national daily newspaper and increased the scale of Johnston Press's combined print and online audience.

  Acquisition price. £24 million transaction (2016)

  Source

1. 1Johnston Pressen.wikipedia.org