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INM to sell off assets to raise €100m
Sunday, January 25, 2009 By Richard Curran
Independent News & Media (INM) is planning to raise at least €100 million from the sale of non-core assets. The company will issue a trading update to the Irish Stock Exchange this week confirming that it has hired corporate finance advisers on the sale. It will also say that it has hired Merrill Lynch to advise on raising a €200 million bond from investors, which will be used to repay a similar bond that is due in May.

The moves follow a 45 per cent fall in INM’s share price in the past week, to 19 cent in Dublin. The company’s shares have fallen by 95 per cent from their high in 2007, leaving the company valued at just €159 million.

At that price, the stake held by chief executive Tony O’Reilly is worth €44 million. The 26 per cent stake accumulated by businessman Denis O’Brien over the past three years at a cost of about €540 million is now worth €40 million.

INM’s share price has fallen due to concerns about its trading, its €1.2 billion debt and the €200 million bond due to be repaid in May.

INM chief operating officer Gavin O’Reilly told The Sunday Business Post that INM would ‘‘be issuing a full trading statement in the next week where all of these questions will be answered and more’’.

It is understood that among the assets likely to be sold are INM’s British online bingo business, Cashcade, its German price comparison firm Verivox and its African outdoor advertising operation. Loss-making businesses such as the London Independent will also be offloaded, and INM has held talks with Russian billionaire Aleksandr Lebedev about him acquiring the newspaper.

Trading at the company is expected to be stronger than anticipated, with 2008 revenues just 2 to 3 per cent below the levels indicated in October. INM expects to report a profit of between €250 and €300 million for 2008 and around €250 million for 2009.

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