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TEN bid waiting on media reforms

Could Lachlan Murdoch & Bruce Gordon's bid for TEN lose out to Oaktree?

Latest reports on the future of TEN suggest Lachlan Murdoch & Bruce Gordon submitted a conditional bid on the network, subject to media reforms.

Competition watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is already examining a potential takeover by both, with a decision, or a statement of issues, on the transactions due on Thursday.

But a decision may be pushed back so it can consider the proposed new ownership arrangements of Foxtel and FOX Sports.

One report suggests their bid may include a plan to have a minority equity interest but a majority economic interest, to get around ownership laws.

Reports further suggest hedge fund Oaktree Capital Management, which recapitalised Nine Entertainment, also made an offer and is considered the favourite without media reforms. Oaktree is working with Credit Suisse, but it will be interesting to see whether it partners with US-based hedge fund Anchorage Capital at a later stage, given it partnered with Apollo in its efforts to gain control of Nine.

A repeal of the ownership rules would pave the way for Bruce Gordon and Lachlan Murdoch to take control, but it continues to be stymied in the parliament.

Source: Australian Financial Review, The Australian

4 Responses

  1. Why isn’t Australian broadcast licences open for anyone? Surely more competition is good for the industry. And why is the government giving away licences away for free? Is the spectrum worthless? So many questions.

  2. Someone should convince Hulu or Netflix or a streaming company to branch into FTA. Could totally work and they’ve got extremely exclusive content?

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