Former Mirror chief David Montgomery is expanding his Mecom newspaper group through a £570 million share issue and the acquisition of Berliner Verlag, owner of the Berliner Zeitung and Financial Times Deutschland.

Mecom’s share issue will double its existing share capital and enable Mecom to spend £111 million on buying a bigger stake in Berliner Verlag.

Mecom will also buy a 23.9% stake of Wegener from the Telegraaf Media Groep (TMG), for £108 million. Wegener publishes regional and free weekly papers, but TMG chief executive Ad Swartjes claims that Mecom’s takeover breaches Dutch competition laws.

£56 million will also be used to pay part of the debt contracted during Mecom’s acquisition of Orkla Media of Norway last July.

Mecom now claims that it publishes 25 million newspapers per week across Europe. Three times as many as Johnston Press in the UK. The remaining money from the share issue - £282 million – will be used for further investments in European regional media.

"In line with Mecom's strategy of focusing on markets with fragmented ownership structures and margin improvement potential," says Montgomery.

Source: The Times