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Trinity Mirror in talks to combine with Richard Desmond's UK papers

January 10, 2017 at 02:49 am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Newspaper group Trinity Mirror said it was in early talks about investing in a new company comprising assets owned by Northern & Shell, Richard Desmond's group that owns the Daily Express and Daily Star titles.

The British publisher of the Daily Mirror said on Tuesday that no offer had been made and there was no certainty that any agreement would be reached.

A combination would unite the left-leaning Mirror with the Daily Star tabloid and the Express, one of the biggest cheerleaders for Brexit. The titles rank fourth, sixth and eighth respectively in the national newspaper rankings compiled by ABC.

British newspaper groups are battling falling print circulation and weakening demand from advertisers.

Analysts have said consolidation could deliver savings and give publishers breathing space to better monetise their online content.

Richard Desmond established his media empire by publishing specialist magazines, including adult titles like the British edition of Penthouse. He launched celebrity title OK! in 1993.

He bought the Express titles, which also include the Sunday Express, in 2000 for 125 million pounds.

The early stage talks were first reported by Bloomberg.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)

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Richard Clive Desmond

Richard Desmond was born in North London in a Jewish family. After a few years at Christ's College of Finchley, he left school at 14. His first job was for Thomson Newspapers. Thereafter, he became drummer in jazz and rock band and then worked in the cloakroom of a club. His passion became reality when at 22 years old, he creates a music magazine.

In 1974, he founded Northern & Shell, which publishes magazines as OK!, launched in 1993, Daily Star, Daily Express and Sunday Express. Until 2004, the group also published numerous pornographic titles. In order to reshape his image, he sold adult magazines to the British company Remnant Media in February 2004.

In 1983, Shell & Northen received his license to publish Penthouse in the UK. Thereafter, the company produced series of pornographic movies.

Northen & Shell owns adult television channels, including Television X and Red Hot TV. In July 2010, he bought the fifth free English Channel, launched in 1997 and renamed it Channel Five in 2002.

Desmond is an active supporter of charities for children. He became president of the charitable foundation Norwood in 2006.

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Linked companies
Northern & Shell Plc Northern & Shell Plc Publishing: NewspapersConsumer Services Northern & Shell Plc publishes and distributes newspapers. Its publications include Daily Express, Sunday Express, Ok, Daily Snack, Daily, and Sunday Star. The firm is also into adult TV channels. The company was founded by Richard Clive Desmond in December 1974 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.	Founder
Northern & Shell Ventures Ltd.	Founder