The final paragraph of a report in The Age (March 24, 1988) noted: “It was disclosed yesterday that a group of Victorian businessmen was considering an offer for Syme Community Newspapers. Mr Ash Long, a Victorian country newspaper publisher, said he would look at a cash purchase of the suburban newspaper group, which includes the Footscray Mail and the Dandenong Journal.”

This news came as reporters Gideon Haigh and John Schauable reported on a visit to The Age by representatives of Hudson Conway, the Melbourne property group, amid widespread rumours that a deal on the newspaper’s future was close. The journalists said the rumours had caused “a stampede of journalists to the newspaper’s door”.

“However, the rumour was scotched as quickly as it was spread, and resolution of the future of the newspaper publisher, David Syme & Co. Limited – for which its owner, the John Fairfax group, is inviting offers – could still be some weeks away.

“Hudson’s three founding directors – Sir Roderick Carnegie, Mr Lloyd Williams and Mr Ron Walker – arrived at The Age at 4pm with Mr John McIntosh, a Melbourne stockbroker, to find a crowd of print and electronic media representatives already assembled.

“Mr Taylor described the meeting as ‘very low-key’. He said the Hudson Conway directors had simply been keeping an appointment for ‘a brief word’, arranged that morning. He said no formal offer had been made.

“The day saw the circulation of a series of a series of rumours, including suggestions that The Age was about to fetch anything from $800 [million[ to $1000 million; that the deal would involve other Fairfax assets, including The Sydney Morning Herald; that Whitlam Turnbull’s Mr Nick Williams had been seen in the building; and that Mr Rupert Murdoch had arrived in Melbourne and had been offered equity in Syme.

“The managing director of The Herald and Weekly Times, Mr John D’Arcy, said that Mr Murdoch was in Sydney and not expected in Melbourne until Monday for meetings at The Herald and Ansett Transport Industrioes.”

• I worked briefly for Syme Community Newspapers in mid-1983 as a consultant, after I successfully arranged a joint venture to merge their Melton-Bacchus Mail Mail with the Bacchus Marsh-Melton Express newspaper controlled by Barry Browne.

“They met Syme’s managing director, Mr Greg Taylor, for about an hour but refused to comment on the substance of their talks. Asked if discussions had centred a prospective takeover of the company, Mr Walker said: “Yes, you can assume that. We have had a friendly discussion with your chief executive. That is all we are prepared to say.

“Fairfax group editorial director, Mr Chris Anderson, later denied that a sale was imminent. “For the record, no, it is not true that we have received a formal offer for The Age. Nor would we expect to at this early stage.