Trinity Mirror is selling off its Midlands titles, including The Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail, Sunday Mercury and Coventry Telegraph .

Earlier this year the Daily Mail & General Trust tried and failed to dispose of its regional newspaper business Northcliffe, however there will now be speculation over whether the likes of Newsquest, Johnston Press or venture capitalists will find the new opportunity more to their taste.

There will be no fire sale – Trinity Mirror said it was looking for "full and attractive offers for each of the businesses to be sold".

As well as its Midlands interests, Trinity Mirror, the UK's largest newspaper publisher, is selling the Racing Post and titles in London and the South-east – including the South London Press – following a strategic review of its business.

It said the disposals would allow it to focus on market-leading titles in Scotland, the North of England and Wales including the Liverpool Echo, the Welsh Daily Post and the Newcastle Chronicle.

The businesses up for sale reported revenue of #132 million and earnings before interest and taxation of #27 million in the 26 weeks to July 2.

Trinity Mirror said that in the course of the review "several third parties" had already expressed an interest in acquiring a number of the group's assets.

It stated: "These unsolicited approaches have naturally been fully considered. The approaches included a conditional indicative offer for the Nationals businesses which the board concluded substantially undervalued these assets."

A full range of alternative structures for the group had been considered, including the separation of the regional and national businesses by way of a demerger.

But the statement to the Stock Exchange went on: "Having thoroughly considered the implications the board has concluded that a de-merger would adversely impact shareholder value."

It continued: "The review led the board to conclude that in order to maximise shareholder value for the medium to long term it should rationalise its portfolio of titles.

"The review identified that the group's regional businesses in Scotland, the North of England, and Wales, complemented by its strong UK wide digital assets and supported by the strong cash flows of the nationals, represent the best opportunities for growth.

"Our newspaper titles in these regions enjoy leading positions in each of their well-defined and concentrated geographic markets.

"The board believes that, whilst valuable assets, the group's Regional businesses in the Midlands and London and the South-east, do not offer the same opportunities and are likely to be more attractive to other owners. The board has, therefore, concluded that it should seek to dispose of the regional businesses in the Midlands and London and the South-east."

The review also decided that the sports division, principally the Racing Post, had minimal overlap in terms of readership, advertising base or editorial content with the group’s other titles.

Trinity Mirror said it would look to safeguard the Racing Post brand as part of any deal.

Chief executive Sly Bailey said Trinity Mirror aimed to become "one of the most efficient and modern media groups in Europe".

Part of its plans involve integrating print and online operations more closely, allowing the company to remove many of the existing barriers to cross-selling opportunities.

The company will also carry out a "fundamental upgrade" of editorial systems and streamline advertising and pre-press functions.

Details of the strategy were given alongside a trading update, which showed the company continued to face tough advertising conditions.

Group advertising revenues for the past five months fell 8.4 per cent year-on-year, although this was an improvement on the decline of 9.6 per cent seen in the 11 months to November. Circulation revenues fell by 0.5 per cent during the five months.

Trinity Mirror said its performance was in line with current market expectations for the year as a whole.