The co-founder and managing director of City A.M. hopes to use the sale of the London freesheet as an opportunity to put some content behind a paywall, having revealed the paper was up for sale yesterday.
However, he added that the newspaper itself will “always” be free, though a paid subscription delivery option could be introduced.
Managing director and co-founder Lawson Muncaster owns a 25% stake in City A.M. and said he hoped to still be involved after a sale. Fellow co-founder Jens Torpe also owns 25%, while a Dutch group owns 50%.
He told the Standard that he saw three possible types of buyer: someone in the UK media landscape, a foreign investor looking to gain a UK foothold or a company that sees City A.M. as a data-led company.
The third, he said, was the ideal option and would be the top priority. But it would also mean a paywall for some content. Muncaster cited ESG channel Impact AM and cryptocurrency section Crypto AM as those most likely to stop being free.
“Now we wouldn’t just put everything behind a subscription,” he said. “What you would start doing is look at products within certain verticals. Impact AM, Crypto AM — things with specific audiences.”
The sale process began in early June, and Muncaster said there has been contact with “two or three” possible buyers, but felt it made sense to open up the process. He said the sale was a form of “succession planning”, as the current ownership groups gets older.
Muncaster added: “I’m looking for someone who’s done it before. Let’s look at what people have done and copy with pride. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Douglas McCabe, CEO and director of publishing and tech at Enders Analysis, said the economics for City A.M. as a free print publication were “challenging” so a buyer would need a plan to elevate its online offering.
He said: “Commuters — particularly commuters into the City — have remained stubbornly low post-pandemic, and the impressive corporate advertising that City A.M. carved out for itself in the late 2000s and early 2010s has also declined.
“Any buyer would need a belief and vision for the brand as an online use-case.”
The newspaper cut its Friday edition earlier this year as City workers opt to work from home on the last day of the week. Muncaster said he would “strongly advise against” new owners cutting Mondays, noting that it made sense to have an edition to kick off the working week.
It is the second major UK newspaper to go on sale in less than a month. The Daily Telegraph, alongside sister magazine the Spectator, was seized by insolvency practitioners AlixPartners, who intend to sell it, in a row about loan payments to Lloyds Bank. The sale of the Telegraph is expected to fetch as much as £600 million.It is the second major UK newspaper to go on sale in less than a month.
MMuncaster said the Telegraph also being up for sale was unlikely to have any impact on City A.M., as they occupy very different parts of the media market.
