Media scion Lachlan Murdoch and business partner Bruce Gordon had been widely expected to acquire Ten but their bid had been held up as they waited for reforms to laws on the ownership of multiple types of media assets - reforms that were only voted through by the Australian Senate on Friday.
SYDNEY: Creditors of Australia’s embattled Ten Network Holdings Ltd on Tuesday agreed to a A$209.7mil (US$167mil) buyout from CBS Corp, effectively ending a battle for control between the US broadcasting giant and Lachlan Murdoch.
Creditors chose CBS at a vote in Sydney after the US company sweetened its offer by A$8.6mil late on Monday, following a counter-offer from Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, and his business partner Bruce Gordon.
“The industry is generally excited about having a A$27bil big brother looking after channel Ten,” administrator Mark Korda told reporters after the meeting, adding CBS overwhelmingly won the vote by value and number.
Barring any further legal challenge from Murdoch and Gordon, the deal will be complete once it gains regulatory approval, including from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
CBS, Ten’s biggest creditor, swooped on the free-to-air network after it went into administration three months ago, elbowing aside an earlier offer from Twenty-First Century Fox Executive Chairman Murdoch and Gordon.
Although a ratings laggard, Ten’s national reach and strong brand recognition in the world’s 12th-largest economy have made it an attractive buyout target. The deal will allow CBS to launch its streaming service in Australia.
A Murdoch representative was not immediately available for comment, while a Gordon spokeswoman declined to comment on the outcome of Tuesday’s vote. A CBS spokesman said he expected the deal to complete.
CBS was assured of winning the creditors vote by value because the US network is owed more than half of Ten’s A$609.1mil in debt.
However it also clinched votes from hundreds of Ten employees, creditors since they are owed pension and leave entitlements, to win the vote by number.
After the meeting a Ten employee said they were relieved at the outcome and had feared a Murdoch victory would have led to consolidation with other media assets and newsroom job losses.
“Everybody was going to do equal or better under CBS,” said the employee, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to comment publicly.
“Staff were concerned about the impact on the company or the newsroom if the CBS offer was rejected. Staff are more excited about the company under CBS than they are under the other deal.”
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