Bruce Gordon on course to control Nine
Bruce Gordon’s WIN corporation has sold its northern NSW television licences, paving the way for the 96-year-old billionaire to increase his shareholding in Nine Entertainment Company to a dominant stake.
WIN sold Northern Rivers Television to Network Ten, and a deal that was flagged over six months ago. The regional licence covers Newcastle, Taree, Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Lismore, Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast, and its ownership has so-far blocked Gordon from increasing his shareholdings in Nine. Under Australian media law, owning more than one commercial TV license in the same market is prohibited.
Gordon is currently the largest shareholder at Nine, with a 14.95% stake through his investment vehicle Birketu. He also indirectly owns an additional 10.2% through equity swaps held with Macquarie Group.
File photo of billionaire Bruce Gordon
With the sale of the WIN regional TV assets, he is now free to convert the equity swaps into shares with full voting rights.
However, this process will take time.
The sale of the northern NSW licence satisfies media law requirements, but under the Corporations Act, he can only rise to 19.9% of voting shares before either launching a takeover, or pausing six months – at which stage he can creep up by 3% each subsequent six months.
If this latter, softer approach is the plan, Gordon will preparing for his 98th birthday before taking a 25% stake in the Nine network – assuming the sale to Ten quickly passes regulatory approval and due diligence.
Last August, Gordon retired from the boards of both WIN and Birketu — plus 39 others boards he held a financial interest in — indicating he was stepping back from the day-to-day operations of his media and financial empire.
WIN and Birketu CEO Andrew Lancaster sits on Nine’s board and acts as a proxy for Gordon’s interests in the broadcaster, which have become the main game.
Lancaster signalled this when commenting on the Northern Rivers TV sale, saying, “WIN’s strategic focus is on Nine and it no longer makes sense for us to own the 10 Northern NSW business.”
Gordon bought the regional licence for $55 million in 2017 from Southern Cross Austereo, but the sale to Ten is likely to be far less than this.
WIN’s profits fell by 43.4% in the last financial year, after operating costs across the television network ballooned by $7.9 million in twelve months.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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Hopefully with network 10 ownership, Northern NSW will get Nickelodeon added to the channel list
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