I’m not quite sure about the details of this story. But it could have interesting implications for the finances of The Guardian.
Sources close to the company said Apax would not be able to recoup its investment in Inform, but is keen to sell the unit before its value falls further.
Emap is understood to have seen a boost in trading at its magazines in the first two months of this year, but a decline in advertising revenues and pressure on subscriptions has dragged down valuations of some publishing businesses.
The point is that EMAP is a joint venture between GMG and Apax. GMG is part of the Scott Trust Ltd and the point of that is to earn money aso aws to allow for the continued publication of The Guardian.
The thing is, if the EMAP deal is a bust, how much of GMG’s money does that lose and what then happens to the finances of The Guardian?
5 responses so far ↓
1 So Much For Subtlety // Mar 2, 2012 at 10:31 am
I know it is wrong to pray for a bankruptcy, but I feel that in a few isolated cases the Lord would somehow understand.
2 Stuck-Record // Mar 2, 2012 at 10:38 am
If GuardianWorld logic still holds, then Rusbridger will get a pay rise.
BTW, have you seen the new 3 little piggies Guardian advert? It’s wonderful.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2012/feb/29/open-journalism-three-little-pigs-advert
Talk about revealing your inner biases. It purports to show how the Guardian Mindset™ finds the ‘truthiness’ behind simplistic stories. In fact it shows that the Guardian is read (and run) by tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy loons, who think that villains are always innocent victims and that eeeeevil bankers are behind everything.
Hilarious.
3 Guido Fawkes // Mar 2, 2012 at 10:53 am
My understanding is that Apax borrowed against their share of EMAP and have written the net value down to zilch.
4 Emil // Mar 2, 2012 at 11:16 pm
guido: finance vs. economy is indeed a difficult thing to understand
5 Christie Malry // Mar 3, 2012 at 10:28 am
Looking at note 14(a) [p60] of the 2011 GMG accounts, it looks like they use the equity method for EMAP. In other words, they bring in their share of its balance sheet. It has a 32.9% share in EMAP, so it brings in 32.9% as an investment.
It took a very reluctant and begrudging impairment charge against EMAP in 2010, which will shield its exposure somewhat. But it still has another £232m or so that it could write down if EMAP really does go to the dogs.
Leave a Comment