Johnston Press

{{short description|Former multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Johnston Press plc

| logo = Johnston Press logo.svg

| image = Queensferry Road, Edinburgh (geograph 5616551).jpg

| image_caption = Orchard Brae House, Edinburgh

| type = Private

| traded_as = LSE: JPR

| foundation = {{start date and age|1767}}

| defunct = {{end date and age|2018}}

| predecessor =

| successor = JPIMedia

| fate = Entered Administration. Assets acquired by JPIMedia

| location = Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

| key_people = David King (CEO)

| industry = Newspapers

| products =

| revenue = £245.1 million (2015){{Cite web |title=Preliminary Results 2015 |url=http://d2j018g7nrzyo3.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/press-release-22032016_0.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602235148/http://d2j018g7nrzyo3.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/press-release-22032016_0.pdf |archive-date=2 June 2016 |access-date=14 April 2016 |df=dmy-all}}

| operating_income = £1.0 million (2015)

| net_income = £11.4 million (2015)

| num_employees =

| parent = JPIMedia

| subsid =

| homepage = See JPIMedia's website

| footnotes =

}}

Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the i, The Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post, the Falkirk Herald, and Belfast's The News Letter. The company was operating around 200 newspapers and associated websites around the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man when it went into administration and was then purchased by JPIMedia in 2018.{{Cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=2018-11-16 |title=Owner of the Scotsman and i newspapers enters administration |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/nov/16/owner-of-the-scotsman-and-i-newspapers-enters-administration |url-status=live |access-date=2018-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210210014/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/nov/16/owner-of-the-scotsman-and-i-newspapers-enters-administration |archive-date=2018-12-10 |issn=0261-3077}}

The Falkirk Herald was the company's first acquisition in 1846. Johnston Press's assets were transferred to JPIMedia in 2018, who continued to publish its titles.

Johnston Press announced it would place itself in administration on 16 November 2018 after it was unable to find a suitable buyer of the business to refinance £220m of debt.{{Cite news |title=Administration for i and Scotsman owner Johnston Press |language=en-GB |work=Sky News |url=https://news.sky.com/story/administration-for-i-and-scotsman-owner-johnston-press-11556210 |access-date=2018-11-17}} It was delisted from the London Stock Exchange on 19 November 2018.{{Cite news|last=Dean|first=James|title=Johnston Press collapses into administration|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/johnston-press-collapses-into-administration-fsf7ps79n|access-date=2021-10-15|issn=0140-0460}} Johnston Press and its assets were brought under the control of JPIMedia on 17 November 2018 after a pre-packaged deal was agreed with creditors.

History

File:FirstFalkirkHerald.jpg (1845), Johnston's first acquisition in 1846]]

File:ScotsmanSign.jpg, in 2006]]

The Johnston family business was involved in printing from 1797, originally in Falkirk.{{Cite web |title=Archives, The Scottish Printing Archival Trust |url=https://scottishprintarchive.org/resources/resourcesarchives/ |access-date=22 March 2017}} It bought control of its first newspaper, the Falkirk Herald, in 1846. The company would remain headquartered in Falkirk for the next 150 years. The family publishing company was renamed F Johnston & Co Ltd in 1882, a title it would retain until it was floated on the London Stock Exchange as Johnston Press ({{lse|JPR}}) in 1988.{{Cite web |title=History of Johnston Press |url=http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/about-us/history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117184557/http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/about-us/history |archive-date=17 November 2018 |access-date=10 August 2007 |publisher=Johnston Press plc}}

The company's first major acquisition came in 1970, when it took control of the Fife-based publishers Strachan & Livingston. In 1978, it bought Wilfred Edmunds Ltd in Chesterfield, publisher of the Derbyshire Times and The Yorkshire Weekly Newspaper Group in Wakefield. The company bought The West Sussex County Times in 1988, The Halifax Evening Courier in 1994 and the newspaper interests of EMAP plc in 1996. Further expansion followed with Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers in 1999 and Regional Independent Media Holdings in 2002.

The company expanded into the Irish market in 2005 by purchasing Local Press Ltd, a company owned by 3i (£65 million),[http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/ownership-mergers-and-acquisitions Newspaper Society Database of Mergers]{{dead link|date=April 2015}} (login required) the newspaper assets of Scottish Radio Holdings, known as Score Press with forty-five titles in Scotland and Ireland (£155 million),{{Cite news |last=West |first=Karl |date=22 June 2005 |title=Johnston Press picks up SRH local newspaper division |work=The Herald (Glasgow) |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/johnston-press-picks-up-srh-local-newspaper-division-1.50584 |access-date=11 September 2014}} and the Leinster Leader Group (€138.6 million).[http://ww7.investorrelations.co.uk/jpr/ShowFinancialNews.jsp?type=finnews&ref=54 Press Release on Purchase of Leinster Leader Group] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808225115/http://ww7.investorrelations.co.uk/jpr/ShowFinancialNews.jsp?type=finnews&ref=54 |date=8 August 2007 }}

Johnston Press acquired The Scotsman Publications in 2006, taking ownership of two of Scotland's major national broadsheet titles, The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, as well as two local papers, the Edinburgh Evening News and the Edinburgh Herald & Post.{{Cite news |last=Tryhorn |first=Chris |date=19 December 2005 |title=Johnston Press buys Scotsman |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/dec/19/johnstonpress.citynews |access-date=11 September 2014}}

In 2014, Iconic Newspapers acquired Johnston Press' titles in the Republic of Ireland.{{Cite web |title=Johnston Press sells its 14 titles in the Republic |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/johnston-press-sells-its-14-titles-in-the-republic-1.1745888 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409053957/http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/johnston-press-sells-its-14-titles-in-the-republic-1.1745888 |archive-date=9 April 2014 |access-date=22 August 2014 |website=Irish Times}} In March of that year, Johnston Press launched a digital advertising agency called 1XL, in partnership with a number of other media companies including Local World and Newsquest.{{Cite web |title=Johnston Press, Local World and Newsquest unite for 1XL digital sell |url=http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1322571/johnston-press-local-world-newsquest-unite-1xl-digital-sell |access-date=14 April 2016}}

In February 2016, the company announced it was buying i newspaper for £24m.{{Cite web |date=12 February 2016 |title=Johnston Press to buy i newspaper for £24m |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-35559192 |access-date=14 April 2016 |publisher=BBC}} The deal to buy i was completed on 10 April 2016, giving Johnston Press a daily print circulation of over 600,000 newspapers and an audience online and in print of almost 32 million people.{{Cite web |title=Financial Results 2015 |url=http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/investors/news/financial-results-2015 |access-date=14 April 2016 |archive-date=22 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022214425/http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/investors/news/financial-results-2015 |url-status=dead }}

In July 2016 Johnston Press sold off its three titles on the Isle of Man — the Isle of Man Examiner, the Isle of Man Courier and the Manx Independent — to Tindle Newspapers in a deal worth £4.25m.{{Cite web |last=Mayhew |first=Freddy |date=4 July 2016 |title=Tindle Newspapers buys three Isle of Man titles from Johnston Press in deal worth £4.25m |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/tindle-newspapers-buys-three-isle-of-man-titles-from-johnston-press-in-deal-worth-4m/ |website=Press Gazette}} In January 2017 Johnston sold off a further 13 titles covering the East Midlands and East Anglia (including the Stamford Mercury) to Iliffe Media for £17m. The same month, the company also won a contract from Associated Newspapers (ANL) to print the Monday-to-Saturday issues of the Daily Mail newspaper at Johnston's Portsmouth Web facility in Hampshire, following the closure of ANL's printing site at Didcot.{{Cite web |last=Turvill |first=William |date=25 January 2017 |title=Multi-million pound Daily Mail printing contract win provides some relief to newspaper group Johnston Press |url=http://www.cityam.com/257772/multi-million-pound-daily-mail-printing-contract-win |access-date=2017-01-27 |publisher=City A.M.}}

=Administration=

In October 2018, with debts of around £200m and a market capitalisation of £3m, the company announced that it had put itself up for sale.{{Cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=2018-10-11 |title=Johnston Press puts itself up for sale |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/11/johnston-press-puts-itself-up-for-sale-i-newspaper-yorkshire-post}} On 16 November 2018, the group announced it was filing for administration, intending to then sell the assets to its lenders.{{Cite news |date=2018-11-17 |title=Johnston Press announces intention to file for administration. |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46243622}} Johnson Press in a statement added there was no longer any value in its shares, in a major blow to Christen Ager-Hanssen, the chief executive of Custos Group, which was the largest shareholder at 25 percent. The company agreed a pre-packaged administration whereby Johnston Press's businesses and assets would be sold to a group of companies controlled by its creditors. Those included GoldenTree Asset Management, the largest creditor with about £70m of bonds.{{Cite news |last1=Garrahan |first1=Matthew |last2=Wells |first2=Peter |title=Troubled Johnston Press agrees administration deal with lenders |work=The Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a54afd66-e9eb-11e8-a34c-663b3f553b35 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211191201/https://www.ft.com/content/a54afd66-e9eb-11e8-a34c-663b3f553b35 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=17 November 2018 }}{{Cite news |last=Doward |first=Jamie |date=2018-11-17 |title=Johnston Press announces irescue plan. |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/17/johnston-press-rescue-plan-for-newspaper-group}}

=Takeover by creditors=

On 17 November 2018, a spokesperson for Johnston Press announced that all its titles had been transferred to the control of JPIMedia, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), owned by the creditors. Under the terms of the pre-packaged deal, ownership passed to a consortium of four lenders, CarVal, Fidelity, Benefit Street Partners and Goldentree Asset Management – who reduced its debts to £85 million and injected £35 million investment.{{Cite news |last=Doward |first=Jamie |date=17 November 2018 |title=Johnston Press: rescue plan for Scotsman newspaper group |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/17/johnston-press-rescue-plan-for-newspaper-group |access-date=18 November 2018}} This however was subject to criticism by Johnston Press's largest shareholder, described as a "blatant pre-planned corporate theft by bondholders", and was raised in Parliament.{{Cite news |date=19 November 2018 |title=Johnston Press buyout debated in the Commons - News from Parliament |language=en |publisher=UK Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2018/november/johnston-press-buyout-debated-in-the-commons/ |access-date=19 November 2018}}

Operations

=Newspapers in Great Britain=

The following is a partial list of British newspapers once owned by the company:

Arbroath Herald
Banbury Guardian
Batley & Birstall News
Bellshill Speaker
Berwick Advertiser
Biggleswade Chronicle
Blackpool Gazette
Bognor Regis Observer
Bridlington Free Press
Brighton & Hove Independent
Buckingham Advertiser
Bucks Herald
Burnley Express
Buxton Advertiser
Carrick Gazette
Chichester Observer
Chorley Guardian
Crawley Observer
Cumbernauld News
Daventry Express
Dewsbury Reporter
Diss Express
Dinnington Guardian
Doncaster Free Press
Edinburgh Evening News
Edinburgh Herald and Post
Eastbourne Herald
East Grinstead Gazette
Ellon Times
Falkirk Herald
Fife Free Press
Fife Herald & Post
Fife Leader
Filey Mercury
Fleetwood Weekly News
Galloway Gazette
Gainsborough Standard
Glasgow South and Eastwood Extra
Green Un (Sheffield)
Halifax Courier
Harborough Mail
Hartlepool Mail
Harrogate Advertiser
Hemel Hempstead Gazette
Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express
Horncastle News
The i
Kilsyth Chronicle
Lanark Gazette
Lancashire Evening Post
Lancaster Guardian
Lancaster Visitor
Lancing Herald
Leyland Guardian
Leamington Courier
Leighton Buzzard Observer
Littlehampton Gazette
Louth Leader
Luton News
Lynn News
Lytham St Annes Express
Market Rasen Mail
Malton & Pickering Mercury
Mansfield Chad
Mid Sussex Times
Mirfield Reporter
Milngavie and Bearsden Herald[http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/jpplc/ourbusiness/publishingdivision/division.jsp?ref=1 Our Business: Johnston (Falkirk) Ltd], Johnston Press plc {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015910/http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/jpplc/ourbusiness/publishingdivision/division.jsp?ref=1 |date=17 July 2011 }}
Milton Keynes Citizen
Montrose Review
Morecambe Visitor
Morpeth Herald
Motherwell Times
News Guardian
News Post Leader
The News (Portsmouth)
Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph
Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Northumberland Gazette
Paisley and Renfrewshire Extra (now defunct){{Cite web |title=Paisley and Renfrewshire Extra |date=15 April 2011 |url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/scotland/paisley-renfrewshire-extra/}}
Perth Herald & Post
Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Pocklington Post
Retford Guardian
Ripon Gazette
Rugby Advertiser
Scarborough News
Scotland on Sunday
The Scotsman
Selby Times
Sheffield Star
Sheffield Telegraph
Shields Gazette
Shoreham Herald
Skegness Standard
Spilsby Standard
Stornoway Gazette
Sunderland Echo
Sussex Express
Times & Citizen (Bedford)
Todmorden News
The Visitor (Morecambe, Lancs)
Westend Extra (Glasgow)
West Lothian Herald & Post
West Sussex County Times
West Sussex Gazette
West Sussex Citizen
Wetherby News
Whitby Gazette
Wigan Post
Worksop Guardian
Worthing Herald
Yorkshire Evening Post
Yorkshire Post

=Newspapers in Ireland=

JPIMedia publishes a total of 22 titles in Northern Ireland through two holding companies, JPIMedia NI and Derry Journal Newspapers. The geographic readership of some titles extends across the Irish border into the Republic of Ireland, such as the Derry Journal which also covers County Donegal. Former JPIMedia titles published in the Republic of Ireland now belong to Iconic Newspapers.