Rival bidder for Mirror

THE NEWSPAPER company Mirror Group announced yesterday it had received a pounds 913m takeover approach from Regional Independent Media, publisher of the Yorkshire Post and other titles.

Mirror Group said the 200p-a-share potential offer was being considered by its board.

Regional Independent Media is owned by the finance group Candover Investments. A successful link-up would create Britain's biggest print media group.

A formal offer would be subject to recommendation by the Mirror Group board and approval by monopoly regulators.

Mirror Group advised its shareholders to take no further action until receiving further notice from the board.

The development followed the breakdown of long-running talks between Mirror Group and Trinity, a regional newspaper group.

RIM is chaired by the former Conservative cabinet minister Sir Norman Fowler, who is reported to have spoken to the Mirror Group chairman, Sir Victor Blank, late last week.

A formal offer would be subject to recommendation by the Mirror Group board and approval by monopoly regulators.

Mirror Group was valued on the stock market at pounds 792 million on Friday, although sharesjumped more than 18 per cent after yesterday's announcement. Mirror has been at the centre of takeover speculation for almost a year as the group struggled to reverse the declining circulation of its flagship Mirror titles. Many in the City believe the group's shares are severely undervalued.

Last year Axel Springer, the German publishing group, looked at a takeover before pulling out.