Antony Catalano buys Nine’s regional newspapers
Former Domain CEO Antony Catalano has succeeded in his bid to buy the regional newspaper assets which formerly belonged to Fairfax from new owner Nine.
Nine has announced cash proceeds from the sale are expected to be around $115m, of which $10m will be paid in 12 months.
Catalano is back in the media owner game
Since Catalano’s departure from Domain – now majority owned by Nine – there has been some speculation about his next move, with some sources suggesting he may come after the company by setting up another publishing and listings rival to diminish its market share.
Party time at the Cats new apartment in Melbourne.
I’m assuming he didn’t personally buy it? Any clue on where the funding is from, or are we re-hashing a press release?
Hi Uncle Drew,
The facts I have thus far are in the story. ACM is being acquired by a company controlled by interests associated with Antony Catalano and Thorney Investment Group. While that particular line is indeed taken from a release to investors on the ASX, the story itself is 641 words, while the release to the ASX was a mere five paragraphs.
If more information comes to light, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Vivienne – Mumbrella
It would seem that The Cat hasn’t used up his nine lives just yet then……
Nine can’t believe their luck! $115m for dying newspaper business.
I’ll just leave this here:
https://www.afr.com/afr-magazine/2018-afr-rich-list-meet-alex-waislitz-australias-warren-buffett-20180413-h0yqig
Well said Vivienne. It’s been clearly stated for month that there are other investors
Cool, thanks
UD
Paid too much unless the purchase was to develop the press plant land, in which case it was a bargain.
What is the political lean of Alex Waislitz and the Pratt family? Will they look to bring a refreshing counter to the local Murdoch drivel?
You’ll find by removing these mastheads from under a greedy publishing parent they’ll make a tidy profitable sum when said parent isn’t syphoning off revenue to prop up their loss-making digital businesses.
Regional newspapers??
The property is worth much of that sum. As for the rest, Catalano will have his real estate crew ready to suck out whatever blood remains. I imagine that’s where the cash is coming from. Makes Fairfax tale look like a version of The Walking Dead really.
Lots of (small) metropolitan ones. And some (agricultural) business press.
If someone wants to start a national media empire, this isn’t a bad start.
One can presume one of the aims is to sell real estate. But potentially quite a lot more.
I hardly think Canberra times is hardly regional at all. I wonder if that includes canberratimes.com.au, that alone is valuable if you look at the traffic level. Instead of siphoning off traffic to SMH, i wouldnt be surprised if they start publishing the same stories nationally to grab traffic they have pushed to the majors. Any being in the capital of Australia, the stories derived from their would be invaluable. Does it remind you of Bezos and Washpo?
Fairfax paid $155 million for the Border Mail back in 2006… that figure looks amazing now….
Where can I find the full list of regional papers included in the sale?
Chris, have a look here: https://www.acmadcentre.com.au/
Hi cata
That’s what we called you in primary school.
Good to see you’ve done so well for yourself.
Woody sends his regards