Owners of Milton Keynes Citizen to enter administration

    Johnston Press, the publisher of the Milton Keynes Citizen as well as the i newspaper, has said it intends to place itself into administration.

    Last month, Johnston Press, which also owns hundreds of other local newspaper titles, put itself up for sale as it sought to navigate a £220m bond which is due for repayment next year.

    But in a statement on Friday night, the company's board said that, despite "considerable interest" in efforts to sell the company, none had delivered "sufficient value".

    They added: "As a result, the board has concluded that there is no value in the ordinary shares of the company.

    "The board has resolved that the best remaining option is for the company and its principal subsidiaries to be placed into administration.

    "It is envisaged that, subject to administration orders being made, the group's businesses and assets will then be sold to a newly-incorporated group of companies controlled by the holders of the bonds."

    The i has been a rare success story in Britain's flagging national newspaper market, which has been wrestling with an accelerating shift of readers on to digital platforms.

    The title launched in 2012 as a sister newspaper to The Independent's print edition, and was bought by Johnston Press for £24m four years later.

    Nevertheless, its circulation in August of just over 244,000‎ copies was 10% lower than the previous year.

    With 2,000 employees, Johnston Press remains one of the biggest employers of journalists in the UK but the explosive growth of digital platforms such as Facebook and Google, and the rise of 'citizen journalism', have cast a shadow over the fortunes of historically successful publishers.

    The Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper is delivered across Milton Keynes each week, as well as operating as a local news website.

    Reuters reports that the company said in August it was trying to grapple with tough market conditions affecting the performance of its newspapers and websites, pension obligations and the weight of its debt.

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