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Southern Cross Media set to buy Austereo

Regional broadcaster Southern Cross Media is making an agreed offer to buy Austereo – owner of the Today and Triple M networks, the company has announced.

The deal is worth around $700m and will turn Southern Cross Media into one of Australia’s biggest media players.

In an announcement to the ASX this morning, Southern Cross said it was offering just over $2 per Austereo share.

The deal has been in the offing since it was announced that Village Roadshow was in talks to sell its 53% stake in Austereo.

The combined company would have annual revenues of more than $670m and likely profits of more than $200m.  

Southern Cross – formerly Macquarie Southern Cross Media – currently owns a string of regional radio stations and regional TV stations which are affiliated to either the Ten or Seven networks.

The deal is a significant one because it would potentially offer advertisers the powerful options of reaching both national and regional audiences from a single buying point.

Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of Southern Cross Media, said: “The deal is consistent with our strategy to build a strong Australian media company. And SCM’s CEO Rhys Holleran added: “We are really looking forward to working with the team at Austereo to build a great Australian media company with coverage across regional and metro Australia. On top of that it will create great opportunities for on and off air talent.”

Austereo’s directors have said they will recommend the deal “in the absence of a superior proposal”.

A condition of the deal going ahead is that the ACCC does not intervene. During the offer period, Austereo is not allowed to hire or fire any on air talent being paid more than $1m.

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