A consortium of Scottish businessmen is trying to buy The Scotsman newspaper from the debt-laden Johnston Press.

Martin Gilbert, the chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, has joined forces with Edinburgh financier Ben Thomson and property developer Mark Shaw to acquire the daily.

Talks have taken place in recent weeks but the two sides are believed to be a long way apart on price. Industry sources say Johnston is holding out for about £40m for The Scotsman, which it bought from the Barclay brothers for £160m in 2005.

The group is in parallel discussions with Newsquest, publisher of rival The Herald, about a joint venture to pool resources. Previous attempts to merge the titles were blocked by politicians.

The latest discussions underscore the crisis engulfing regional media, which has been hammered by the collapse in advertising revenues caused by the recession and online competition.

Several high-profile businessmen have been approached to join the consortium, which has the blessing of Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister. Thomson, the chairman of Noble Group, the boutique investment bank, is said to be arranging financing.

Sources close to Johnston confirmed an informal approach for the division, which includes Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News, but said there were no plans for a formal sale.

Johnston’s acquisition of The Scotsman was seen as the crowning glory of a buying spree that had taken the company from a family-run player to one of the country’s largest regional publishers in barely a decade.

In reality, it was one of several deals too far for the group, which is locked in talks with lenders to reset the borrowing terms on £450m of debt by August 31.

The restructuring follows a deeply-discounted rights issue last year, when the Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan took a 20% stake.

Tim Bowdler, the chief executive, was replaced in January by John Fry and former Scottish Power boss Ian Russell became chairman.

Johnston hopes to strike a deal with lenders in time for Friday’s interim figures. It is believed to be offering its banks warrants to subscribe to a 5% stake in the company.

In May Johnston Press abandoned plans to sell its Irish portfolio of 13 regional newspapers, including the Kilkenny People, the Leinster Leader and the Limerick Leader, and two printing presses.

The group spent over €200m (£174m) buying Irish assets and had hoped to sell them for up to €70m. Since aborting the sale process, it has been implementing a rationalisation programme including job cuts and moving production jobs from Limerick to Co Antrim.

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