London freesheet City A.M. is up for sale, its owners confirmed today.
The owners of the business-focused free morning newspaper said they have been in discussions regarding further investment in the property, which has had to deal with the impact of post-pandemic working patterns on circulation.
However, they added that, “whilst those discussions are continuing, City A.M. is now also open to a sale through its advisors FRP Advisory”.
The owners added: “City A.M. has a loyal audience in both print and online and continues to punch above its weight on the London and national scene, and there exists an opportunity to build on the brand’s recognition and rapidly diversify and expand City A.M.’s revenue streams.”
Managing director Lawson Muncaster said: “As London continues to bounce-back from the pandemic, the time has come to think about the next chapter of City A.M.’s story. As a local paper at the heart of the financial universe, the brand is perfectly positioned to expand into new areas and develop new revenue streams that take advantage of the new media landscape.”
City AM cut its number of print days from five to four, removing the Friday edition, earlier this year.
Douglas McCabe, CEO and director of publishing and tech at Enders Analysis, said the economics for City A.M. as a free print publication were “challenging”, and so a buyer would need a plan to elevate its online offering.
“Commuters — particularly commuters into the City — have remained stubbornly low post-pandemic, and the impressive corporate advertising that City A.M. carved out for itself in the late 2000s and early 2010s has also declined. The unit costs of printing and distribution exploded in 2021 and 2022, and have not returned to pre-Ukraine levels.
“Any buyer would need a belief and vision for the brand as an online use-case. “
The free newspaper was founded in 2005 and its daily circulation was 67,714 copies as of January 2023, mostly concentrated in the City and Canary Wharf. That makes it the ninth-most-circulated newspaper in the country.
It is the second major UK newspaper to go on sale in less than a month. The Daily Telegraph, alongside sister magazine the Spectator, was seized by insolvency practitioners AlixPartners, who intend to sell it, in a row about loan payments to Lloyds Bank. The sale is expected to fetch as much as £600 million.
With a complex corporate structure and various levels of holding companies, experts say potential buyers of the Telegraph and Spectator will need a forensic examination before they can put a true value on the titles.
