Australian broadcaster Southern Cross on July 03 backed a 1.35 billion dollar (1.14 billion US) takeover bid that will split its assets between newspaper publisher Fairfax and Macquarie Bank.
The Southern Cross board said it had unanimously agreed to the deal, which continues a shake-up in the Australian media sector sparked by the introduction of new ownership laws.
"The board of SCB unanimously recommends the offer, in the absence of a superior proposal and pending confirmation from an independent expert that the transaction is in the best interests of SCB shareholders," Southern Cross said.
Under the deal, Macquarie Bank offshoot Macquarie Media Group will pay 17.41 dollars a share for the 86.2 percent of Southern Cross it does not already own.
It will keep Southern Cross's regional television operations and onsell a range of businesses to Fairfax Media, including major metropolitan talkback stations 2UE in Sydney and 3AW in Melbourne, film and television production business Southern Star and Satellite Music Australia.
Fairfax, which owns the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age newspapers, already has extensive rural and regional newspaper businesses following its 2.8 billion dollar merger with Rural Press last April.
It has responded aggressively to the new media laws, which allows foreign investors to buy domestic media companies and lifts limits on how many media outlets a single proprietor can own in any one market. Shares in Southern Cross, Macquarie Media and Fairfax were in a trading halt for the announcement.
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