The City is expecting a break up of the Scottish Media Group, owners of Scottish newspaper The Herald, Scottish ITV franchises and, more recently, Virgin Radio and Pearl & Dean cinema advertising. The company’s Chief Executive Andrew Flanagan has overseen a string of media acquisitions in the past few years which, coupled with the advertising slump, have left the company with almost £400m in debts - and word is the banks want their loans paid back by June next year. The Guardian reckons deal-hungry investment bankers are sensing an opportunity to generate millions in fees through breaking up the group, and that flights from the City to SMG's Glasgow offices are suddenly in demand. "SMG's debt is like a time-bomb, and the longer they leave it ticking the more likely it is to blow the group apart," one senior executive at a rival broadcaster told the Guardian. If they are proven right it will bring to an end Flanagan’s ambitions to turn SMG into a major media player on a global level.
Aug 7, 2002
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1 min read
SMG may be forced to split
Scottish Media Group, which has almost £400m of debt, may be broken up as banks reportedly want their loans repaid by June next year, the Guardian reports.