June 21, 2016
News Corp Ltd has signed a $36.6 million deal – subject to shareholder and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval – to buy APN News & Media’s regional newspapers.
APN publishes 12 daily newspapers and more than 60 community and non-daily newspapers, including the South Burnett Times and the Central & North Burnett Times.
Other mastheads in the group include the Toowoomba Chronicle, the Queensland Times (Ipswich), the Bundaberg News-Mail and the Sunshine Coast Daily.
News Corp already held a 14.9 per cent stake in APN. This means APN shareholders will be required to vote on the proposed sale.
In a statement to the ASX on Tuesday morning, APN said it was anticipated this vote would be held in August.
APN chairman Peter Cosgrove said the divestment was “a significant milestone” for APN which will allow the company to focus on its radio and outdoor advertising assets.
“The divestment of (Australian Regional Media) is an historic day for the company as APN has been the custodian of some wonderful newspapers whose community roots go back over 150 years,” Mr Cosgrove said.
“We are now passing that ownership onto another media group with deep publishing experience across regional Australia.”
Net proceeds from the sale will predominantly be used to pay down existing APN debt.
The news follows last week’s demerger by APN of its New Zealand assets ahead of a proposed merger with Fairfax Media’s NZ operations.
The latest announcement effectively means APN will be quitting all newspaper publishing.
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