Sir Anthony will still be relying on a change in Australian cross-media ownership laws before his Independent News & Media could take over Fairfax, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald. It does, however, remove one obstacle to a bid.
Fairfax was attempting to introduce a rule that would require any proportional takeover to gain full shareholder approval to succeed. However, it withdrew the proposal after some of the group's largest shareholders opposed it.
The opposition is seen by some as a sign of a lack of confidence in Fairfax's senior management. A Fairfax investor told the Sydney Morning Herald, "[Some investors] don't want the current management to be entrenched. Any bid is a good bid if it shakes these guys up to focus on shareholder value."
At the beginning of the month, Sir Anthony increased his stake in Australia's fifth-largest media firm, APN News & Media, by selling it his stake in New Zealand media firm, Wilson & Horton Holdings, for £282.2m, fuelling speculation that he would make a bid for Fairfax. He tried to buy the company, which also publishes the Australian Financial Review, in 1990.
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