Boutique in Observer bid
An investment boutique is offering to buy the Observer newspaper in a move which would cause major job losses at the Sunday title.
Capital Ideas, which hopes to turn the Observer into a weekly news magazine with its own website, has written to Guardian Media Group chief operating officer Derek Gannon to outline plans for acquiring the paper.
Consultant Renwick Haddow, who seeks out new businesses for Capital Ideas to buy, said: "It is early days, but we are serious and keen to get the Guardian around a table with us to discuss options." He admitted staff cuts would be inevitable.
Capital Ideas has set out two options for acquiring the paper. The first is that it pays a nominal sum, likely to be £1, to purchase the paper as a going concern. It would also ask Guardian Media Group to guarantee the paper's debts. Under the second option, if Guardian Media Group wishes to close the paper and handle redundancies itself, Capital Ideas would pay a premium to buy the intellectual property rights.
Guardian Media Group is considering closing the world's oldest Sunday newspaper as the group's losses mount. It will publish the results of a strategic company review next month.
Capital Ideas, a privately-owned company which was previously listed on Aim, owns The Corporate Register. It also publishes three trade magazines, Investing for Growth, which is aimed at small investors, Compliance Monthly and Undervalued Assets Monthly.
