Miller spurns the hot seat at SMG

PUBLISHING veteran Sir Robin Miller has turned down the chance to chair Scots media group SMG in place of former London Stock Exchange boss Don Cruickshank.

Cruickshank is stepping down at the annual general meeting on 4 June as the Glasgow company unpicks the legacy of his five-year acquisition drive. Michael Grade was a frontrunner for the job before his appointment as BBC chairman.

Miller, 62, has a good track record. He is a non-executive director at Channel 4 and HMV chairman. He returned briefly as chief executive of Emap to unwind its disastrous purchase of US publisher Petersen.

Virgin Radio owner SMG sold its third business in just over a year. Its largest shareholder, ITV, paid £31m for 25% of breakfast broadcaster GMTV, which employs presenter Lorraine Kelly.

The deal gives ITV 75% control of the station, although Disney, holder of the other 25%, has the option to buy one third of SMG's stake. ITV must offer to buy Disney out under the same terms.

ITV boss Charles Allen reckons the GMTV purchase would 'develop further the single ITV business' after the merger of Granada and Carlton.

Allen will also pay SMG for the right to use the ITV brand name. It will sell advertising slots for Grampian and Scottish Television.

SMG was an original investor in GMTV in 1991 and raised its stake to 25% in 2000. The sale cuts its debt to £100m. Analysts think SMG will eventually be broken up.

The company sold its stake in Scottish Radio Holdings for £90.5m to Emap in January. Its Herald newspapers went to US publisher Gannett for £216m last spring.

The SMG annual report shows that departing publishing boss Des Hudson got more than £1m last year - including a £550,000 'transaction bonus' from that deal. Chief executive Andrew Flanagan's pay rose 18% to £562,000 last year.

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