Spheria AM calls for Southern Cross chair’s resignation
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The news: Major shareholder of Southern Cross Austereo, Spheria Asset Management has called for the immediate resignation of its chair Rob Murray after its board rejected a takeover bid from ARN Media and Anchorage Capital Partners.
The numbers: Last October, ARN and Anchorage offered to acquire 100% of the fully diluted share capital of Southern Cross for 0.753 shares in a reconstituted company following re-allocation of SCA and ARN assets (ARN Newco) and 29.6 cents cash per share.
Spheria is one of Southern Cross' major shareholders and currently owns 9.89% of the company.
Southern Cross shares fell 0.51% to $0.98 in early trading on the ASX today.
The context: Today, Spheria demanded Murray’s resignation with “immediate effect” in a letter disclosed to the ASX, after the Southern Cross board dragged its feet in assessing the ARN offer and ultimately knocked it back.
In early March, the Australian Financial Review reported that Spheria had called for an EGM of the company. Southern Cross, which owns the Triple M and Hit radio networks along with audio streaming platform Listnr, reiterated on Wednesday it has not received a request for the meeting.
What they said: In announcing their rejection of the takeover bid earlier this month, Southern Cross said: "The SCA board has concluded that the current terms of the indicative proposal undervalue SCA and, as a result, the indicative proposal is not in the best interests of SCA shareholders".
Murray said: “We are open to considering proposals from the consortium or other parties that would deliver fair value and be in the best interests of all our shareholders”.
The source: ASX announcement
