By Hamish Mackay
Scottish Radio Holdings is on the acquisitions trail after notching
up an 11 per cent increase in revenues in the six months to 31 March.
Simultaneously, it has told magazine and radio group Emap, which has
finally admitted it wants to buy SRH, that it will only sell if the
price is right – at about £360m.
Clydebank-based SRH has 22
wholly owned radio stations, including Radio Clyde and Radio Forth, and
45 weekly newspapers in the UK and Ireland, including the Galloway
Gazette and Irish Tipperary Star.
Chief executive David Goode
confirmed he was in the market for further businesses to integrate into
the SRH fold. “We are always on the lookout if it makes geographical
sense, and provided the price is right,” he said.
Meanwhile Emap, which already owns a 27.8 per cent stake in SRH, insists it will only buy the company at a reasonable price.
It released a statement to the London Stock Exchange saying that SRH’s business would be an “attractive business fit”.
SRH,
which insists its current share price does not “adequately reflect” its
value, responded: “The board of SRH will not support an offer for the
company unless it is in the interests of SRH’s shareholders and
reflects the full and fair value of SRH’s growth prospects including a
premium for control.”
SRH claimed it was confident of an “independent future”.
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