Spheria withdraws request for Southern Cross EGM

The news: Spheria Asset Management has withdrawn its request for Southern Cross Media to arrange an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, following the immediate departure of the media group's chair and director Rob Murray on Wednesday.

The numbers: Spheria, which holds a 9.89% stake in Southern Cross, called for the immediate resignation of Murray and for an extraordinary general meeting earlier this month.

The demand came after Southern Cross rejected a takeover bid from ARN Media and Anchorage Capital Partners, which offered 0.753 ARN shares per Southern Cross share, with 29.6 cents in cash per share. The consortium later made an improved bid, offering up to 0.87 ARN shares per Southern Cross share.

Southern Cross shares dipped 0.5% to $0.95 by 11:30am AEDT.

The context: Southern Cross, which owns the Triple M and Hit radio networks, as well as audio streaming platform Listnr, said it is continuing to engage with the consortium regarding the takeover.