News International puts Wapping base up for sale
RUPERT Murdoch’s News International will sell its historic Wapping complex after scrapping plans for a multi-million pound remodelling of the site.
The East London base has been home to Murdoch’s stable of newspapers, including the Sun, the News of the World and the Times, since his famous battle with the print unions in the 1980s.
The announcement follows a strategic review of the News International property portfolio. Most of the newspaper business has already shifted to the neighbouring Thomas More Square base.
Sources close to the firm said the decision to sell the site is based on purely commercial reasons. It is understood the extra capacity at Thomas More Square created by the closure of the News of the World was one consideration.
News International abandoned its last attempt to sell the site in 2008, saying it would move staff from other offices to a remodelled Wapping. The rumoured price tag then was about £200m.