City A.M. mulls sale

City A.M. "a local paper at the heart of the financial universe"
City A.M. "a local paper at the heart of the financial universe"

A ‘for sale’ sign has been hoisted over London business freesheet City A.M. as the company looks to its “next chapter”.

The newspaper was founded in 2006.

Its current print circulation is 67,714, around 13% down on pre-pandemic levels, with the physical newspaper now produced Monday-Thursday to reflect new working patterns as so many potential readers work from home on Fridays. It also allowed the publisher to cut print and distribution costs by 20%.  

City A.M. is printed by Iliffe Print in Cambridge.

Its website cityam.com has around 1.8m-2m unique visitors a month, with a chunk of international readers. It has also resumed its events, post-pandemic.

In a statement, the newspaper said that it had been in discussions regarding a potential investment in the business, and was now “also open to a sale through its advisors FRP Advisory”.

Managing director Lawson Muncaster commented: “As London continues to bounce-back from the pandemic, the time has come to think about the next chapter of City A.M.’s story.

“As a local paper at the heart of the financial universe, the brand is perfectly positioned to expand into new areas and develop new revenue streams that take advantage of the new media landscape.”

Printweek understands a number of approaches have already been made.

According to its most recently-filed small company accounts, for calendar year 2021 and approved on December 23 2022, the business employed 32, down from 50 the prior year.

It had £1.38m in bank loans and overdrafts and negative shareholders’ funds of £1.6m.

Although the directors prepared the accounts on a going concern basis, they also noted that the business relied on continued support from its bankers and main creditors, which indicated that a material uncertainty existed.

“Should the effects of the current economic climate continue the company will take further steps to restructure the business in order for it to continue as a going concern and provide world class news content to its readers,” the directors stated.

The publication was hit by pandemic restrictions which forced it to suspend publication of the printed newspaper for 18 months.

City A.M. is owned by a consortium of Dutch investors that has a 50% stake, with CEO Jens Torpe and Muncaster each holding 25%.

By a quirk of events, this morning (4 July) Muncaster has been abseiling down the 88-metre-tall Lloyds building in the City of London to help raise money for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal Charity and A Better City for All.