Cape Town - Irish publishing group Independent News &
Media (INM) has agreed to sell its South African unit Independent News SA for
R2bn to Sekunjalo Independent Consortium.
The sale will require approval from INM
shareholders and the Competition Commission.
The publisher has taken radical steps to restructure in
recent years, which include selling its flagship UK title the Independent, in
response to high levels of debt and tough trading.
The Sekanjalo consortium is led by philanthropist Iqbal
Surve .
The company announced last July that it had appointed
advisors to look at a range of options for its South African operations.
INM generates about two-thirds of revenue from local
newspapers in Ireland, including the dominant daily and Sunday titles north and
south of the border, and the rest from its South African unit, where it is the
leading newspaper publisher.
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