Reach plc has confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of the Irish Daily Star, having secured joint venture partner Independent News and Media’s 50% shareholding.
The acquisition cements Reach’s place as one of the biggest publishers of national and regional news brands across Ireland with an existing portfolio that includes the Northern Irish and Irish editions of the Daily and Sunday Mirror newspapers, the Sunday People newspaper, RSVP magazine, and five news sites that reached a record total online audience of 23.5 million users last month.
The Irish Daily Star Newspaper will continue to trade through Independent Star Ltd as a subsidiary of Reach plc.
The addition of the Irish Daily Star assets to the Reach portfolio brings the number of newspapers it publishes in Ireland – North and South – to eight, plus one female lifestyle magazine (RSVP) and six online titles (Irishmirror.ie, Dublin Live, Cork Beo, Belfast Live, RSVP Live and Buzz.ie).
According to the latest TGI data for 2020, the Irish Star has 143,000 daily readers and the Irish Daily Mirror has 114,000. The combined readership of the two papers, according to TGI, is 222,000 daily readers.
Reach plc is the UK largest commercial news publisher, with over 120 national and regional news brands including the Mirror, Express, Star, Daily Record, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, WalesOnline, MyLondon and BelfastLive, as well as national magazine brands OK! and New!