John Wylie's Tanarra takes Nine backseat as board prepares CEO reveal
The dealmaker has quietly built a small position in Nine as Australia’s largest local media company looks to crown its next CEO and undergoes a strategic review.
Prominent merchant banker and corporate agitator John Wylie is usually pretty candid about the investments he's made at his $3 billion vehicle Tanarra Capital.
But, as things stand, he's not talking about his latest bet on Nine Entertainment, adding to the intrigue already swirling around the country’s largest domestic media company.
Brokers Jefferies and UBS were both actively buying Nine stock in the week before Christmas, with about 3% of Nine shares changing hands and trading sources pointing the finger at Tanarra. And the view in the market is that the fund wanted more.
Tanarra's move comes as Nine's board prepares to announce the permanent successor to Mike Sneesby as chief executive. As Capital Brief reported in October interim CEO and former CFO Matt Stanton is strongly viewed as the lead contender for the role.
