KIIS FM owner ARN Media teams up with PE to bid for Southern Cross
KIIS FM’s owner ARN Media is working with buyout fund Anchorage Capital Partners to lob a bid for rival radio station owner Southern Cross Media, Street Talk can reveal.
KIIS’s star radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O.
The indicative, non-binding offer is expected to be announced as early as Wednesday. ARN is advised by Jefferies Australia and law firm Gilbert + Tobin.
The move comes four months after ARN Media raided Southern Cross’s register via Jefferies’ equities desk, and walked away with 14.8 per cent of the company.
At the time, both companies cited the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, which allows media outfits to own a maximum of two commercial radio broadcasting licences in all metropolitan markets and several regional markets. The law also limited ARN from going past the 15 per cent ownership threshold.
It is understood Anchorage’s involvement will see the buyout firm – led by dealmaker Beau Dixon – purchase a portfolio of assets and create a whole new independent radio player in the market. The two-headed deal and mechanics behind it should allow it to meet media ownership regulations.
Australia’s media ownership laws were shaken up in 2017, scrapping the 75 per cent reach and two-out-of-three rules. What remains are limitations around licencing and voice, preventing one company from dominating the market and ensuring media diversity across the country.
On licencing, the rules state no person can be in a position to exercise control of more than two commercial radio broadcasting licences in the same licencing area, nor can they be the director of a company that controls more than two licences.
On the voices front, in metropolitan and larger regional markets, the ‘5/4 minimum voices’ rule remains in place as a
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