Southern Cross Media completes Seven West merger, Seven West CFO to retire
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The news: The merger between Southern Cross Media and Seven West Media has been implemented.
Southern Cross announced that Seven chief financial officer Craig Haskins announced would retire following a transition period this quarter.
The numbers: Seven shareholders will receive 0.1552 Southern Cross shares for every Seven share, handing 50.1% of the new company to Southern Cross shareholders, with Seven shareholders taking 49.9% of the combined group.
The new Southern Cross shares will commence trading on an ordinary settlement basis on Thursday. Seven West Media has been delisted.
Southern Cross shareholder and activist hedge fund Sandon Capital’s interest has fallen from 11.3% to 5.5% following the share issuance.
The context: Haskins, who joined Seven as CFO in July 2024, has advised the board that he intends to retire “after a period of transition during the current quarter”, according to Southern Cross’ announcement to the exchange.
Incumbent Southern Cross CFO Toby Potter will remain in his role on an interim basis.
Seven managing director and CEO Jeff Howard has been appointed as the head of Southern Cross Austereo. Incumbent Southern Cross chief executive and board director John Kelly has stepped down and moved into the role of Southern Cross Group managing director, audio.
Howard along with fellow Seven West directorswhen will seven Kerry Stokes, Ryan Stokes, Michael Malone and Teresa Dyson have been appointed to the Southern Cross Board.
Kerry Stokes will serve as chair until he steps down at the end of February 2026 and will transition the role to Heith Mackay-Cruise. Malone will also step down from the board at the end of February.
The all-scrip reverse takeover was the subject of controversy for bypassing a Southern Cross shareholder vote. The two companies agreed to merge at the end of September 2025 and received approval from Seven West shareholders in December.
