Irish Times agrees deal to buy Western People and other newspaper titles

THE owners of The Irish Times have agreed a deal to buy the publishing and media interests of the Landmark Media Group, which owns the Irish Examiner newspaper as well as a number of other media assets, including the Western People which is based in Ballina.

The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

The Examiner had been subject to sale speculation for around a year, with the newspaper's owner reportedly carrying debt of around €20 million.

The Irish Times DAC confirmed its interest in acquiring the Irish Examiner in September and Landmark Media is already a printing customer of the The Irish Times.

According to RTE news, the is no indication at this stage if the acquisition will result in any redundancies, however, managing director of The Irish Times DAC Liam Kavanagh said the company is "fully committed to working with the respective Union groups in each company on any restructuring proposals that will need to be made.”

Landmark Media is owned by Tom and Ted Crosbie. The family has owned the Examiner since the 19th century and took most of the assets of the old Thomas Crosbie Holdings out of receivership four years ago.

Landmark's other media titles include the Evening Echo, Roscommon Herald and Waterford News & Star newspapers.

It also owns regional two regional radio stations - Beat and WLR FM - as well as a number of online publications, including Breakingnews.ie and BenchWarmers.

Mr Kavanagh said: "The opportunity to acquire Landmark Media is an important strategic decision for The Irish Times.

"It is the intention to retain the core identity and independence of the respective news publishing titles. Each will retain their editorial integrity," he added.