A&N Media strikes deal for 80% share of local newspaper notices market

Daily Mail & General Trust's A&N Media will have access to an 80% share of the UK's local newspaper notices market after signing a long-term contract with specialist provider iAnnounce . As part of the deal, iAnnounce has acquired DMGT's LastingTribute.co.uk , and will integrate its announcements across DMGT's regional "thisis" network to publish an estimated 3m notices of births, deaths, marriages and special occasions. iAnnounce founder Alex Stitt said the deal creates Europe's largest online family notice business, and plans to continue expanding with new sites planned for Germany, Italy and the US in the next few months. iAnnounce already operates in Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Denmark and Russia. "We have to evolve quite carefully in each area to get an intimate understanding of the local market and how to replicate that online. We do lots of research and truffle out senior newspaper people who can open doors for us," said Stitt. iAnnounce employs six full-time and six part-time staff. iAnnounce generates 1m unique users and 100,000 notices each month. The three-year-old business already has partnerships with regional newspaper publishers Johnston Press, Archant, Newsquest and Trinity Mirror. The terms of the deal with DMGT were not disclosed. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".