PRINT THIS PAGE 3i to sell Local Press to Johnston Press for £65m16/09/2005. Source: AltAssets. 
 3i has agreed to sell Local Press, owner of the Belfast News Letter and Derry Journal, to Johnston Press for £65m deal. 3i will receive proceeds of £40m, which represents a money multiple of 1.7x and an IRR of 39 per cent on its original investment, the firm announced.
3i completed the MBO of Local Press from the Trinity Mirror Group in January 2004.
Ken Beaty, 3i director, said, 'At Local Press we have increased profits by over 50 per cent in 18 months. The newspaper industry is rapidly consolidating around a small number of large players and we believe this acquisition offers great opportunity for both Local Press and Johnston Press.'
Alan Cornish, chairman Local Press, added, 'The timing of this sale to Johnston Press is right for both businesses and will create a major force in the regional newspaper sector in Northern Ireland.'
Last month 3i announced that, along with syndicate members, SEB Företagsinvest, InnovationsKapital and Industrifonden, it had agreed to divest its 26 per cent undiluted stake in Swedish biotech company Arexis in an acquisition by European biotechnology firms Biovitrum. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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