Deal brings together Seven Network owner with Triple M radio operator
Australian media giant Southern Cross Media has completed its A$385m (£192m) merger with Seven Network owner Seven West Media (SWM), with the latter set to end its run as a standalone entity.
The deal was first revealed in September and secured unanimous shareholder approval in December, with the New South Wales Supreme Court now formally approving the deal.
Trading in the enlarged Southern Cross Media will start on the Australian Stock Exchange on Thursday, with Southern Cross holding a 50.1% stake and Seven West taking a 49.9% position.
The deal saw SWM shareholders receiving 0.1552 Southern Cross shares for every Seven West share held.
Seven West chief exec Jeff Howard has been installed as managing director and chief exec, with Southern Cross chief John Kelly overseeing audio assets.
Aside from local broadcaster Seven, SWM also operates sibling streamer 7plus and owns news titles such as The West Australian.
Southern Cross is Australia’s biggest radio broadcaster, with 99 brands across the country including Triple M and Hit Network.
When the deal was unveiled last year, pre-tax ‘synergy’ savings from areas such as duplicated corporate costs were estimated to come in at between A$25m-A$30m.
Howard told staff this morning that the enlarged company would be able to better tap into advertising dollars across sectors.
“We can unlock the opportunity to extend our exceptional storytelling capabilities into new audiences, leveraging each of our core capabilities to empower the whole,” he wrote.
The deal is the latest to hit the Australian media landscape, which has seen companies consolidating to compete against streamers such as Netflix and tech firms including Meta.
Sports streamer DAZN completed its acquisition of Australian broadcaster Foxtel for £1.7bn last year, while the future of Paramount-owned Network Ten is unclear following the US studio’s merger with Skydance.
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