The major radio and television broadcaster Southern Cross Media is considering a proposal to buy a portfolio of daily print, digital news and metropolitan titles from Australian Community Media (ACM) in a deal that would reshape the country’s publishing landscape.
Southern Cross, which is listed, disclosed to the stock exchange on Tuesday that it had been approached by the Antony Catalano-backed news company with a proposal to buy ACM assets.
The offer comes six months after Southern Cross rejected a pitch to combine ACM’s regional newspaper titles with the broadcaster. Earlier this month, Southern Cross also rejected a takeover bid by rival broadcaster ARN Media.
The proposed deals come amid a flurry of attempted deals in the sector amid a tight advertising market.
Southern Cross told shareholders it would investigate the revised proposal to see if it would create value and was in the best interests of shareholders. It said discussions were preliminary and there was no certainty that a transaction would eventuate.
Southern Cross is a significant broadcaster that owns the Hit and Triple M radio networks and dozens of regional stations, while ACM describes itself as Australia’s largest independent publisher. Under the deal, Southern Cross would acquire 14 of ACM’s daily print and digital news publications, key regional and metro titles and its agriculture division.
ACM staff were told in an internal email on Tuesday that consolidation with a bigger media company would “strategically help secure a more prosperous future for ACM titles”.
The email said no redundancies would be offered while Southern Cross considered the deal.
“If the proposal proceeds, only those staff whose jobs are directly impacted will be offered redundancy if no suitable redeployment options are available,” the email said.
“All staff should have clarity shortly after the end of due diligence, which is planned to be completed by the end of June, or not long after.”
