JOHNSTON Press has lined up a buyer for its 12 Irish regional and local titles, it has been reported.
The owner of The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post is reportedly in talks with print advertising business Mediaforce over the sale.
The proposed deal would value the stable of titles, which includes the Leinster Leader and Donegal Democrat at around £10 million, according to the report.
If a sale is concluded it would signal the withdrawal of Johnston Press from the Irish market.
In 2005, the group paid €139m (£115m) for the Leinster Leader, a company comprising of six weekly paid-for Irish newspapers, in addition to a paid-for evening newspaper in Limerick.
Johnston had earlier acquired 12 titles across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in a £65m deal to buy Local Press, the newspaper interests of Scottish Radio Holdings.
However it has been reported the value of its Irish and Northern Irish titles has been undermined by Ireland's economic crisis and the shift to online advertising.
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