Cuts equivalent to one in four of the 1200 staff of APN's Australian Regional Media division are likely if the purchase by News Corp goes ahead.
According to a report by Jake Mitchell of the Murdoch-owned Australian newspaper, the cuts will come in two phases, first through "back office synergies" and a subsequent round of cost cuts "once News Corp has had more time" to assess the ARM operations which News executive chairman Michael Miller ran as chief executive of APN until August last year. Some of these will instead affect current News employees.
But a later report puts likely job losses at "fewer than 100".
There are no immediate plans to cull titles - ARM includes 12 daily and 60 community newspapers across regional Queensland and northern NSW - "provided they remain profitable".
Jobs of "as many journalists as possible" will be saved, with "back office, printing and distribution functions" targetted.
ARM has consolidated printing on three Queensland sites - in Yandina, Rockhampton and Warwick (opened last year in place of Toowoomba) - with the result that newspapers are now trucked considerable distances to their readership areas, leaving scope for logistics savings.
News Corp Australia has centralised its printing on four presses in Brisbane's Murarrie - following the closure of the Gold Coast Bulletin print site - and one in Townsville.
The ARM acquisition by News, which owns almost 15 per cent of APN, is deemed a "related-party transaction" requiring approval by shareholders at a meeting this Friday, and by competition watchdog the ACCC which is already considering it.
Mitchell's report, which is likely to be authoritative, quotes "sources" that there is little likelihood of Fetch Plus - the Singapore bidder which is thought to have offered more than News' $36.6 million for the ARM business - "re-emerging in a bid to trump News Corp".
Mitchell reports that ARM's EBITDA earnings dropped 42 per cent to $3.4 million for the first six months of 2016. Revenues of $89 million were down six per cent.
• News Corp's The Australian newspaper has put overall job losses from its planned acquisition of APN News & Media's regional newspaper business at "fewer than 100" after an interview with APN chief executive Ciaran Davies.
He has again apologised for APN's lack of investment in the newsmedia business: "With us, ARM didn't have an opportunity to prosper because we were continually cutting costs and that's a tough environment for a business that needs to invest in local content," he told Media Diary. "We just weren't in a position to do it when we have other capital investments to make in outdoor and radio."
Pictured: News executive chairman Michael Miller at NewsMediaWorks' Future Forum ten days ago