Publisher of EDP and East Anglian Daily Times sells up to regional rivals

The publisher of some of the best-known newspapers in Cambridgeshire Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex has been sold.

Archant, which publishes the Eastern Daily Press, East Anglian Daily Times, Cambs Times and the Ham & High in London, has been snapped up by regional rival Newsquest.

The company, which has its headquarters in Norwich, employs around 760 people. It has not been reported whether jobs will be affected.

Newsquest - which owns the Essex County Standard, Southend Echo and Colchester Evening Gazette among other titles across the country - bought Archant in a deal worth a reported £15m.

The move will solidify Newsquest - which publishes titles including the Northern Echo and Lancashire Telegraph - as one of the country's biggest newspaper groups.

The firm - owned by US media giant Gannett - confirmed it had completed the purchase from a private investment firm earlier on Friday.

Henry Faure Walker, Newsquest chief executive, said: "We're really looking forward to working with the Archant group who worked so hard to build up the business after it went into administration 18 months ago.

"The Archant strategy focused on building out digital marketing solutions and digital subscriptions is closely aligned with our own and the additional scale that our combination brings will greatly assist Archant's local news and Life brands in building a stronger future."

Lorna Willis, Archant chief executive, said: "By bringing the best of Archant and Newsquest together we have the opportunity to lead the way in building an exciting future for regional media, a future that speaks to growth, innovation and sustainability, built on quality local journalism."

Archant closed its printing press at Thorpe just outside Norwich in 2019 and moved printing to Hertfordshire.

That brought more than 300 years of newspaper printing in Norwich to an end.

The UK's first provincial newspaper was printed in the city back in 1701.