As part of the deal, which will have to receive regulatory approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the media minister Patrick O’Donovan, the 25pc shareholder Des Whelan will continue as part-owner.
The 75pc stake in WLR FM was the Irish Times’ last remaining interest in the radio sector, which it originally acquired in 2018 when it bought the Landmark Media Group. The main media outlet in that group was the Irish Examiner newspaper.
It has already disposed of its shareholdings in Beat 102-103, and in Red FM in Cork, both of which were sold to the expanding Bauer Media.
Mikie Sheehan, the chief financial officer of the Irish Times, told staff in the newspaper that the sale of the radio station shareholding was consistent with the group’s strategy to prioritise and invest in its publishing titles, and to pursue new opportunities to develop its digital offering. The group has added RIP.ie, and the sports data website ScoreBeo to its portfolio.
On the other hand this is the Daily Mail Group’s first investment in Irish radio, and reflects the extent to which traditional “newspaper” groups are moving into audio as well as video. The group in Ireland includes Evoke, extra.ie, and Business Plus, as well as the Irish Daily Mail week-day and Sunday titles.
No financial details of the transaction are known. Industry sources have been speculating for months that the shareholding in WLR FM was about to be sold. Bauer Media Audio, the German-owned media empire that bought Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp Group in 2021, was never regarded as a likely buyer, as it already holds eight of the 34 commercial radio licences, and has reached a ceiling.
The ownership policy set down by Coimisiún na Meán says the maximum any one entity can own or operate is 25pc of all licenses. More than that would be “unacceptable”.
The fact that it was likely to be off the pitch opened the way for a new entrant into a radio market that has seen a good deal of consolidation in recent years. Bauer has also bought iRadio, while Bay Broadcasting, which owns Radio Nova, Sunshine and Classic Hits, recently bought Galway Bay FM.
Originally a pirate station, WLR secured a local licence in the first round of deregulation in the late 1980s. Landmark Media Group, when it was Thomas Crosbie Holdings, bought a majority shareholding in 2007.
The station is currently two years into a 10-year license from Coimisiún na Meán.