HT&E makes ‘opportunistic’ purchase of 11m Ooh Media shares
Media business Here, There and Everywhere (HT&E) has acquired 11m shares in Ooh Media, equal to 1.8% of Ooh’s issued capital.
Ooh Media denied corresponding with HT&E about the acquisition, and said it “regards the purchase as totally opportunistic”. HT&E has confirmed it owns a 4.2% interest in Ooh.
Ooh Media has denied knowledge of the HT&E share acquisition
Ooh Media, which owns youth publisher Junkee Media as well as a number of outdoor assets, recently announced a fully underwritten capital raising round to help it weather the economic storm brought about by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
HT&E is the parent company of Australian Radio Network (ARN). It formerly owned street furniture business Adshel, which it sold in 2018 to Ooh, and has since focused on dropping its assets which aren’t audio-focused, including The Roar and esports business Gfinity.
Ooh Media said it views the acquisition of the shares as a positive reflection on its business.
“Ooh Media is the leader in the out of home sector in Australia/ New Zealand and the acquisition of Ooh Media shares by another participant in the Australian media sector highlights the strategic value of Ooh Media’s assets and in the Board’s view the company remains significantly undervalued based on current trading prices,” read a statement from Ooh Media to the ASX.
At close on Wednesday, April 8, Ooh’s shares were priced at $0.64.
And yet ARN staff have taken a paycut this week…
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What a look for the CEO. Cut his staff by 20% and spends millions on millions to buy shares in a company they sold. Why would any staff member feel looked after by management.
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It’s exactly what HTE should be doing – staff will be beneficiaries in any smart investment they make.
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Anonymous, interested to hear how you think staff would benefit from this. Shareholders obviously will (and I’m not anti shareholders!) but not sure how you think staff would?
Given HT&E are looking to the government to help cover wages, while at the same time using available funds to invest in other companies, surely this demonstrates that any benefit recieved from this particular action will not be directed to staff?
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