Rumours, rumours, rumours – word has it the Daily Mail & General Trust may make a £700 million bid for GCap, the radio conglom due to be created by the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR. Those rumours seem to come from comments made by DMGT’s Finance Director. The media company currently has a 29.9% stake in GWR, which will translate into a 15% stake in the merged company. DMGT finance man Peter Williams has told reporters that while his company supports the merger, he doesn’t see such a small stake in the company as a long term situation - "Ultimately, we can't sit at 14 or 15% [of GCap]”. However Williams says he has no urgent desire to increase his stake in the company, seemingly keen to keep his options open. But Lorna Tilbian, media analyst at Numis Securities, has told the Guardian that she thinks a DMGT takeover of GCap, one day, isn’t that unrealistic: "I'd be very surprised if DMGT don't end up owning [GCap] one day. They will just wait until the next downturn and then top up their shareholding before launching an all-out bid”.
Apr 19, 2005
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1 min read
Daily Mail & General Trust may bid for GCap
DMGT's finance director has said a 15% stake in the merged GCap is not a long-term position, fuelling speculation of a takeover bid, which one analyst thinks is likely one day.