Australia: Merger creates countries largest media company

Australia’s Nine Entertainment announced a US$3 billion takeover of Fairfax Media. The deal will create the country’s largest media company and means the Fairfax Media brand will be history.

The deal, with Nine’s shareholders getting a 51.1% controlling interest and Fairfax giving up its name, would see the combination of “TV, print, radio, subscription video on demand, digital real-estate classifieds and a suite of digital publishing and events assets,” according to The Australian Financial Review, itself a Fairfax-owned newspaper.

“Thismerger with Fairfax will add another dimension, creating a unique, all-platform, media business that will reach more than half of Australia each day through television, online, print and radio,” Nine CEO Hugh Marks said, according to the Review.

The deal must still meet with regulatory approval, but Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former journalist and media lawyer, was quick to back the plan.

Full Content: Financial Review, PMC Deadline

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