Scottish media group SMG yesterday gained a stronger foothold in its neighbour, Scottish Radio Holdings, by raising its minority stake by 5.9 per cent to 20.8 per cent. SMG paid £30.9 million sterling (€50.7 million) and now holds 6.9 million shares.

Scottish Radio has extensive interests in Ireland, where it is the second largest regional newspaper publisher, owns Ireland on Sunday and holds a 22 per cent stake in independent radio station Today FM.

The move comes as SMG places itself for a potential liberalisation of radio ownership rules. This month SMG, which owns Virgin radio, pre-empted the British government's thinking on media ownership by initiating a dawn raid on SRH and picking up a 14.9 per cent stake.

Under current rules, SMG is restricted to owning 20 per cent of SRH because its ITV franchises overlap with SRH's radio assets.