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MUMBAI:
Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son Lachlan Murdoch has withdrawn
a $2.9 billion ($3.2 billion Australian dollars) proposal
to privatize the Australian-listed media group Consolidated
Media Holdings Ltd (CMH).
The decision was taken after members of Murdoch’s private
company Illyria Pty. Ltd failed to agree revised terms despite
intense negotiations and the arrival of a new equity backer.
Murdoch
said his private company Illyria Pty. Ltd. is unable to proceed
with the proposal because of "material changes in the
overall transaction terms."
When
the proposed bid was launched in January, the offer valued
Consolidated Media at A$4.80 a share.
Under the original proposal, Murdoch and Packer were to split
Consolidated Media 50:50, but under the restructured deal,
the Murdoch/Providence consortium were to take a 75 per cent
stake in the group, with Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings
reducing its stake to 25 per cent.
CMH
holds a 25 per cent interest in PBL Media, which owns Channel
Nine, the free-to-air national television station and ACP,
Australia’s leading magazine business.
CMH’s
other assets include 25 per cent of Foxtel, Australia’s
largest pay TV operator, and 27 per cent of Seek, the job
search website.
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