Johnston Press spent 469m on seven acquisitions in 2005, including: The Scotsman Publications; Leinster Leader, Local Press Group and Score Press.
The firm's 2005 results, which were released last week, showed pre-tax profits were up 1% to 151.4m and revenue was up 0.1% to 520.2m, Bowdler said consolidation was the "greatest possible safeguard for a healthy regional press in the coming years".
Meanwhile, Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) was expected to unveil its plans to restructure regional newspaper publishing arm, Northcliffe, soon.
There is speculation that both Johnston Press and Newsquest are interested in the potential sale of its Scottish newspapers.
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