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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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United News & Media United News & Media is to halve its online investment to £60m in 2001 by reducing the number of business-to-consumer projects on the web, prompting speculation that some dotcom businesses could be sold off. 15-Dec-2000 United News & Media is to invest £20m in the Creative Planet online trading exchange for the US film and TV industry. 05-Dec-2000 British Telecom and United News & Media are looking to sell their LineOne joint venture, which could lead to a £180m deal with a rival internet service provider. 01-Dec-2000 United News & Media is to sell Express Newspapers to Northern & Shell, in a £125m deal that includes the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and a share in the Westferry joint venture. 22-Nov-2000 United News & Media is to change its name to United Business Media, in order to reflect its new focus on business publishing. 20-Oct-2000 United News & Media has received a £75m takeover offer from Press Holdings for its Express newspaper business. 06-Oct-2000 Granada Media is to acquire the broadcast, programme production and international distribution business of United News & Media, in a £1.75bn deal that includes the Meridian, Anglia and HTV franchises. 28-Jul-2000 United News & Media is to sell Miller Freeman Europe, the operator of more than 100 trade shows, to Reed Elsevier for £360m. 26-Jul-2000 United News & Media and Carlton Communications have dropped plans for a £8bn merger, following a ruling by the Competition Commission that the combined group would have to dispose of the Meridian TV franchise. 24-Jul-2000 United News & Media is to sell Miller Freeman USA to VNU for £433m, but is still looking for a buyer for Miller Freeman's European business titles. 18-Jul-2000 United News & Media is negotiating the formation of alliances with mobile phone operators in order to expand its internet-related businesses into the mobile data market. 28-Jun-2000 United News & Media is planning to invest £120m in its Miller Freeman online publishing operations over the next two years. 08-Jun-2000 United News & Media is to sell its UAP consumer magazines business in the US to Trader Publishing for £338m, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt and invest in its new media strategy. 10-May-2000 United News & Media is in negotiations to sell the London-based Premier League Hall of Fame, in order to secure the future of the £8m tourist attraction. 02-May-2000 United News & Media has sold the food and retail exhibitions business of Miller Freeman to William Reed for about £5m. 21-Mar-2000 United News & Media is to sell its Visual Communications stock photography business to Getty Images of the US for £137m. 29-Feb-2000 United News & Media has announced plans to invest £370m in the internet over the next three years, and will bring its European internet operations together into a single new division. 25-Feb-2000 United News & Media and Carlton Communications have had their proposed merger referred to the Competition Commission, which is expected to lead to a major review of ownership of the ITV network. 09-Feb-2000 United News & Media is in discussions with a number of companies about the planned sale of 40% of its Miller Freeman business publishing interests for about £690m. 01-Feb-2000 Granada has expressed interest in bidding for either Carlton Communications or United News & Media, which is expected to increase the chances of the proposed merger between Carlton and United being referred to the Competition Commission. 08-Jan-2000 United News & Media has offered to increase its stake in Channel 5 by 6% to 35%, and CLT-Ufa and Pearson are also expected to be interested in acquiring additional equity from Warburg Pincus. 06-Jan-2000 United News & Media has appointed advisers to help with the process of selling non-core businesses, in preparation for its £9bn merger with Carlton Communications. 23-Dec-1999 United News & Media is linking up with Sporting Index to launch an internet gaming service, offering fixed-odds betting and sports information. 06-Dec-1999 United News & Media and Carlton Communications have announced plans for a merger, in order to create the largest ITV broadcaster with six franchises and a market valuation of £8bn. 26-Nov-1999 United News & Media has acquired MP&A Editorial, the New York-based magazine publisher, for £1.4m, through its Miller Freeman PSN subsidiary. 27-Aug-1999 United News & Media has sold a number of UK and French publishing operations from its recently-acquired CMP division to VNU for £2.5m. 11-Aug-1999 United News & Media is acquiring Definitive Stock, the US online stock photography company, for £3.8m, and will combine the business with its Visual Communications subsidiary. 06-Aug-1999 United News & Media has acquired a number of US parenting publications for £3.9m, including Arizona Parent, Minnesota Parent and Northwest Parent Publishing. 18-Jun-1999 United News & Media is planning to acquire Two-Ten Communications, the supplier of press releases, from the Press Association for £17m. 08-Jun-1999 United News & Media is acquiring Strategic Marketing Corporation, the US market research company, for £11m. 19-May-1999 United News & Media has announced a recommended £571m takeover offer for CMP Media, the US technology media company, and will combine it with its Miller Freeman division. 30-Apr-1999 United News & Media's Express newspaper is to launch a free internet service in partnership with LineOne. 24-Apr-1999 United News & Media's Miller Freeman division is acquiring Continuing Medical Education of the US for £68m. 20-Mar-1999 United News & Media is in discussions to sell the Daily Star newspaper to Ginger Media Group for about £20m. 08-Mar-1999 United News & Media is to acquire Audit & Surveys Worldwide, the US market research company, for £26m, as part of a strategy to offer a global market research service to large companies. 20-Jan-1999 United News & Media has acquired Verecom of the US, Fematec of Argentina, and Stammer of Italy, for £40m, in order to boost its Miller Freeman publishing activities. 15-Jan-1999 Time Warner and United News & Media have shortlisted three sites between Rugby and London as potentially suitable to set up a Movie World theme park and film production studio. 02-Oct-1998 United News & Media is planning to demerge its Garban and Harlow Butler money and securities broking business by distributing new shares to existing shareholders. 24-Jul-1998 Guardian Media Group and United News & Media are to back Talk Radio's management in their bid for the radio station, and would aim to convert it into a commercial version of BBC's Radio 5 Live. 02-Jul-1998 United News & Media is said to be considering a link-up with Talk Radio's management to form a joint bid for the radio station. 22-Jun-1998 The British Phonographic Industry is considering plans to replace United News & Media in the CIN consortium that owns the pop music charts, as it believes cost savings could result if a trade organisation were involved instead of a private sector company. 18-Jun-1998 S4C Digital Networks is expected to win a licence over the next few weeks to set up a digital terrestrial TV service, and shareholders in the consortium include United News & Media, NTL, and S4C. 11-May-1998 United News & Media and Warner Bros of the US have identified three potential sites between London and Birmingham for a £225m film production studio and theme park, and a final decision is expected within two months. 19-Mar-1998 United News & Media has acquired a 33% stake in LineOne, the internet service and content provider set up by British Telecom and News International, for about £10m. 12-Mar-1998 United News & Media has sold United Provincial Newspapers, the publisher of the Yorkshire Post, to Candover Investments for £360m, and its Spanish regional publishing operation to Hebdo Mag International for £43m. 28-Feb-1998 Southnews is acquiring the southern regional newspapers business of United News & Media for £47.5m. 19-Feb-1998 United News & Media expects to complete the sale of United Provincial Newspapers next month, with Trinity International preparing a bid for the north of England titles and Southnews and Newsquest bidding for the free newspapers in London. 08-Jan-1998 United News & Media is to shed 35 jobs at the Express newspapers due to the introduction of the Quark Publishing System. 07-Jan-1998 United News & Media is considering the sale of United Provincial Newspapers, its regional newspaper business thought to be worth about £400m, having received a number of approaches. 02-Dec-1997 Warner Bros and United News & Media are looking at sites in the Midland to set up a Movie World film production studio and theme park, and hope to select a location early next year. 19-Nov-1997 Reed Elsevier has announced plans to sell its IPC consumer magazines division, which could fetch up to £1bn, and interested companies are likely to include United News & Media and Bertelsmann. 28-Oct-1997 United News & Media is acquiring Telecom Library, the US publisher of computer-telephony magazines, for £80m. 02-Sep-1997 United News & Media has made a recommended £262m bid for the remaining 70% of HTV, the Welsh broadcaster, signalling further consolidation in the independent TV sector. 28-Jun-1997 United News & Media is acquiring FPG International, the stock photography business, from Visual Communications Group of the US for undisclosed terms. 24-Jun-1997 United News & Media has agreed to invest £120m for a 30% stake in Digital Television Network if DTN wins the bidding for one of the digital television frequencies. 09-May-1997 United News & Media has acquired three companies for a total £18m - Lemos Britto, the Brazilian trade show organiser, Technology & Learning Magazine of Ohio, and Southwest Newswire of Dallas. 13-Feb-1997 United News & Media has decided against selling its UPN South East regional newspaper division and will instead merge it with UAP, its advertising periodicals division. 20-Jan-1997 United News & Media is to offer broadcasting consultancy services across Europe in a new joint venture with Havas, the French media concern. 13-Jan-1997 United News & Media has increased its stake in HTV, the Welsh commercial TV company, from 20% to 29.9%, for £37m. 30-Nov-1996 Southern Newspapers has bought the South Wales Argus from United News & Media for £31m, a deal which includes 15 titles. 12-Nov-1996 United News & Media has bought a 19.9% stake in HTV, the regional television broadcaster, for £74m, but says it has no plans to increase the stake. 26-Oct-1996 Independent Newspapers of Ireland is looking to expand its regional newspapers business and may acquire some of the titles being sold by United News & Media. 12-Sep-1996 United News & Media is to move the Daily Express newspaper to a seven-day publishing format in an attempt to reverse a decline in circulation figures. 04-Sep-1996 United News & Media is looking to sell 47 local newspaper titles in south-east England and south Wales. 28-Aug-1996 United News & Media has entered the bidding for Westminster Press, Pearson's regional newspaper business thought to be worth about £300m. 30-Jul-1996 United News and Media has announced a £3bn merger with MAI, bringing together a wide range of media activities but expected to bypass restrictions on media ownership. 09-Feb-1996 Plans are being drawn up to revive United News & Media's Daily Star, Daily Express and Sunday Express by improving morale and editorial quality. 15-Nov-1995 The information above comes from the UK Activity Report Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007