The English Sunday Times newspaper is reporting that Tony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media publishing empire is preparing to sell assets to try and clear some of its debt. The focus is Verivox, a German price comparison website and other online assets.
INM’s stake in APN has been on the block since November, of course, with no buyers emerging. In early December the Herald Sun reported that INM was bravely denying they were having trouble making the sale, but the paper quoted sources as saying the shareholding had been shopped “up and down Collins St” and in Sydney but had “not had a bite”.” Channel Seven and Lachlan Murdoch are the only two potential buyers thought to have some interest.
