London based business newspaper City AM is nearing administration and are preparing to appoint accountancy firm BDO to start the insolvency within days.
City AM is 18 years old and has been hit hard with advertising revenues and the pandemic caused a decline in commuter footfall for the free newspaper.
They had a daily run of 70,000 newspapers a day and rising print costs also had its toll on the newspaper which did not help with the companies revenue, other rivals have also been hit hard.
The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator are to be put up for sale by receivers which comes as Lloyds Banking Group pulled the plug as a £1 billion loan has not been repaid.
City AM is 50% owned by a few Dutch investors and the managing director Lawson Muncaster and Jens Torpe the chief executive hold 25%.
Muncaster said at the start of the month when looking for a buyer, “As London continues to bounce back from the pandemic, the time has come to think about the next chapter of City AM’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.”
Douglas McCabe, a media analyst at Enders said, “If a buyer was going to put in money it’s because they believe they can do something with it as a digital brand.
“Free print media is tough.
“The pandemic has removed commuting in scale across the City across the five days but Brexit has also affected the paper’s corporate advertising.”
