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TELECOMS TYCOON DENIS O’Brien has walked away from Australian and New Zealand media and advertising group APN News and Media after a long history of involvement in the company.
Independent News and Media (INM), in which O’Brien is the largest shareholder, and the billionaire’s private investment company Baycliffe have cashed out a combined stake of about 30% in APN for an estimated AU$300 million (€216 million).
A large piece of that share was snapped up by News Corporation, the media company run by Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose international publishing empire includes The Sun, The Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Australian competition regulators still need to clear that part of the deal.
INM expects to receive about €121 million from its part of the sale and it will use the money to pay off all its debts.
The company said the move would release it from the “restrictions on … activities” like chasing other acquisitions that had prevailed while it was saddled with loan repayments.
After the sale it expected to put in place cheaper loans to give it the option to “invest in digital strategy, including potentially in relation to bolt-on acquisitions”.
‘Focus on Ireland’
INM, which published The Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Herald and Sunday World, recently reported it spent €9.3 million on redundancies last year as its ad revenue grew marginally for the first time in seven years.
Chief executive Robert Pitt said the company would now be able to “focus on its island of Ireland business strategy, build on current performance and position it for further development at a time of economic recovery in Ireland”.
APN is the biggest newspaper publisher in New Zealand, while in Australia it owns a network of regional papers and several major radio stations.
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You couldn’t imagine how the world could let this happen??? Neither can I Nadia…..
@Nora McElhinney: Not taking away the fact from your comment Nora but you do realise there is a lunatic in Russia with the power to destroy the world as we know it.
I can’t belive that Ireland is not helping Ukrainians leave Ukraine or around the western borders. I can’t believe that all the charities raking in donations are not here on the border helping women and children. I can’t belive the Irish government expect Ukrainians to walk to Ireland. There’s a lot of things I can’t believe about Irelands response to the Ukrainian refugees, the trafficking at the borders, kidnapping of women and children. I so happy you got to Ireland Nadia. Please tell the story of the hell on the borders and the lack of help Ukrainians are getting down here from Ireland.
@Joby Redmond: what have you done? Have you taken in a refugee? Are you going over to fight? You can if you volunteer. Stop pretending to care.
@John Moloney: actually, I think Joby is on the ground in Poland doing everything that he can for the refugees. From what I’ve seen online anyway.
@John Moloney: Did it ever enter your head that there are people on here that genuinely care, and are involved in whatever capacity they can. Say something positive for a change.
@Colleen: has he taken one in? NO. End of. Its a great time to appear as a good person online. Everyone doing nothing is doing it. It’s utter nonsense. Supporting arms being sent to ukraine for a war they will never win, what is the final outcome people want here? People need to be realistic, it is terrible, Putin is a disgrace but the reality is that prolonging a war and while asking people to help the refugees it creates is like throwing more petrol than water on the fire.
@John Moloney: John. There are a lot of people like you online and we have Claire and Mick mouthing off about supporting the war against Russia and I am always interested in hearing what exactly they and you are actually proposing. I would really appreciate a genuine reply without resorting to half insults and popular tag lines and tell me what it is you are suggesting the people of Ukraine should have done when Russia invaded. Just tell us what you would do if you were a Ukrainian citizen in ukraine right now and what would you be asking your country’s leaders to do? Genuine question and I will respect your answer whatever it is.
@John Moloney: did ireland lie down and die once the British came? No we didn’t, and neither will the Ukrainians, and as most of them are consistently saying, they will not stop until every Russian soldier is ridden from their country. They’ve asked for weapons to fight back, not to prolong, and we should listen as we would hope for the same good forbid it ever happened to us.
We were neutral on Hitler and neutral on Putin
Things have to change militarily
@John Byrne: neutral with Hilter as a country, yet 100,000 Irish people went to the UK and volunteered
@John Byrne: Are you daft we are not and never will be in a position to be a military power. Neutrality is the most common sense weapon we have. Decades of proper politicians realised this but the shower we have at the moment are only interested in soundbites and being the good little boys of Europe. By all means help in any non military way we can but other than that we are in no position to help militarily
@John Byrne: go over and join the war. Nothing stopping you.
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