I would guess if it goes wrong this time we will be watching 7 via southern cross in NSW and Victoria in two years time
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If this goes ahead, wonder what this means for the future of Prime’s regional bulletins? They could arguably be the biggest loser in this if 7 reduced the output for regional audiences.
One would think 7 should be looking to the future and where they need to be placed for a new age media company, rather than acquiring a regional network for a increasingly less profitable media business.
I guess this would clear up any possible tie up between 10 and Prime at the end of their respective affiliation agreements if this all goes ahead.
I’m sure the shareholders at Prime have their own mind.
I’d say this is exactly part of that plan. It gives them unrestricted access to a national audience (with the exception of Southern Cross and WIN areas). It means regional profits only need to be split one way, rather than two, making regional more stable (as despite not owning regional licences out of Queensland, affiliation means they have always been interest in regional).
It also protects them from increasingly volatile regional affiliations which have already created market instability and can dilute (or even damage) brand value.
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I can’t remember if I can remember reading this during the previous bid:
My reading is that SWM have taken Prime’s valuation a little more seriously this time. Also, if Bruce has his sights set firmly on a Nine/WIN buyout, it wouldn’t surprise me if he recommends the same for Seven/Prime.
To my mind, Catalano is the biggest wildcard at the moment. I’m sure he’ll make his position clear in the weeks ahead.
Seven’s got some weird business priorities. Buying a dead duck regional affiliate which has no real option but to pay them whatever they want in affiliate fees and flogging in-house production capability with Seven Studios. I know what’s more valuable for a digital, future focused streaming business.
The press release Prime Media Group have put out about Seven’s proposal outlines that both Catalano (through his WA Chess Investments company which owns 22.99% of Prime shares) and Gordon (through Birketu Pty Ltd which owns 11.4% of Prime shares) both intend to vote in favour of the proposal unless a superior proposal emerges.
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This probably cements a successful deal - 44% of the shareholder base voted for the original proposal in 2019
You have to wonder what has changed with Catalano though, for all the bluster of saying that the original deal undervalued Prime, he had grander plans of making Prime part of his regional media “empire” if the ownership rules changed. Perhaps this is an indicator that neither side of Parliament will entertain changes that would allow an ACM/Prime tie-up
All major shareholders have said they intend to agree to this revised deal, which is sweeter than the one they put forward last year. Good enough for even Thorney/Catalano to say yes.
The government has no intention of fixing the rules, just producing green paper after green paper dragging their feet. They didn’t listen, probably because they saw no political motivation.
Its a cash offer rather than a scrip one - I havent looked too closely at the numbers to see what the difference in value is
The PRT board unanimously recommended the original deal too
If the takeover goes through, and going into speculation territory. I wonder if Seven West Media will intend on rebranding Prime as 7 New South Wales (7NSW) and GWN as 7 Western Australia (7WA)
The above speculation would be similar to rebranding Sunshine Television to 7 Queensland (7QLD) when they bought STQ decades ago.
Farewell Prime and GWN.
Nice knowing you.
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Maybe not straight away, but I’ve got no doubt that Prime (possibly GWN) will no longer exists.
Seven will rebrand the network.
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I have my doubts that the purchase from 7 onto prime will be successful because there are a number of people anxious to save what’s left of localism. I have a feeling that the brand GWN and Prime will be around for a long time yet to come
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I’d be willing to predict that if the merger happens, the current Prime7/GWN7 Local News bulletins will probably survive but rebranded as Seven News (LOCATION), as per regional QLD.
Of course I highly doubt there’ll be any new regional services launched, especially in the current media climate.
If this latest attempt by Seven to acquire Prime Media gets the nod, I reckon we’ll almost certainly see the Prime7 & GWN7 brands become part of TV history. Makes sense to have a consistent brand along the entire East Coast + the whole of Western Australia.
In the long run, it’d also be interesting to see if a Seven-owned Prime7/GWN7 would continue to be played out from MediaHub or eventually move to NPC.
What will be really sad to see: Prime7 Possum & GWN7’s Doopa Dog permanently put to sleep, even though those mascots haven’t really been seen outside the 7.30pm “Kids Goodnight” segments since local kids shows got the flick around the end of 2013.
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I think we need to prepare for the eventuality that localism in regional media is dying rapidly and despite best intentions is unlikely to return. In many respects, the tokenism that has been shown towards local content has contributed to its demise.
By all accounts, the Government refused to even meet with regional media companies to discuss the issue
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Yep, I agree. Localism in regional media has been dying since aggregation (if not earlier) anyway.
And while it’d be sad from a branding enthusiast POV to see Prime7/GWN7 become history, the average viewer (who’s probably already referring to Prime7/GWN7 as “Seven”) won’t really care for as long as their favourite shows are on.
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New valuation is double the 2019 offer:
Mr Warburton first attempted to acquire Prime Media Group in 2019. But the group was blocked by shareholders Antony Catalano and billionaire WIN Corp boss Bruce Gordon because they felt the offer - which valued the business at $60 million - was too low.
Under the previous deal, Prime investors would have received 0.46 Seven shares for each share they held in the regional broadcaster. The offer was at a 3 per cent discount to the current share price was unanimously recommended by the Prime board. The revised deal is a 57 per cent premium on the closing share price of Prime last Friday. Shareholders will receive 36 cents per share including a special fully franked dividend of 26 cents.
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