Publisher interested in Times’

Press, 24 October 1980, Page 6

Publisher interested in Times’

| NZPA-Reuter London A threat of shut-down hangs over Britain’s oldest daily newspaper, “The Times,” and its sister paper, the “Sunday Times,” after their owners announced on Wednesday that they would be closed by March unless they could be sold. However,- “The Times’s” editor, William Rees-Mogg, said he is confident a consortium could be found to take over the 195-year-old paper. And a millionaire publisher, Robert Maxwell, said he would be willing to make an offer for both titles and their supplements Mr “’axwell, a former British member of Parliament and head of Pcrgamon Press, said he ’ ould -eek talks with Lord Thomson, chairrr s of the Canadianbased international Thomson Organisation, “The Times’s” parent group. Lord Matthews, head of Express Newspapers, said he could be interested in the “Sunday /Times,” . but a spokestnari for the ‘ Lonrho international trading group, ;once said to be interested ’ i the papers, said: “We have no intentions towards ‘The Times' or ‘Sunday Times.’ Thev.mre money losers."

The 1 papers were put up for sale as a result of labour troubles over many years, the Thomson Organisation said

Gordon Brunton, managing director and chairman of Thomson British Holdings, singled out the dispute over new technology, sta'f cuts, and unofficial stoppages which led to the newspapers being suspended '.'om publication for 11 months between 1,978 and 1979.

. ‘“The.,.—'ewspapeis Lave : continued to be subjected to ; industrial disruption and ; various Urms of non-co-operation from sections of . the wcrk ' .e,”.h’ said. The. “Sunday Times” has lost more than one million copies in the last two weeks because of action by two print unions.. “The Times,’’ founded m 1785, was bought by a Cana-dian-born tycoon, the late Lord Thomson, in 1966. He died in 1976, and the newspapers passed . to the business empire he left behind, now heau d by his son, the present Lord Thomson. j The first Lord Thomson poured millions of pounds into “The Times” but its heavj' losses, exacerbated by constant industrial disruption, have continued.