Independent News & Media has been ruled out in the £40 million sterling auction of Trinity Mirror's Irish titles, according to media report today.
This morning's Guardiansays the Daily Mirrorpublisher has narrowed the list of bidders down to four, after deciding it wanted to sell the titles in one group.
Independent News - publisher of the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Heraldand the Belfast Telegraph- had teamed up with private equity firm Provident Capital.
However, this bid wanted to avoid the Unionist-leaning News Letteron the basis that an offer for a second Belfast newspaper would face difficulties from the regulator.
Trinity Mirror has drawn up a shortlist of parties that have bid for all nine titles in the portfolio. The other newspapers include the Donegal Democrat, Derry Journaland Letterkenny Listener.
One of shortlisted bids is reported to be Archant, the privately owned publisher of the East Anglian Daily Times.
Archant earlier this July wrote off a £1 million investment in the Dublin Dailyafter the newspaper folded four months after its launch.