Bids for Stuff, Fairfax papers come in lower than expected - Aussie media

Nine has struggled to offload its New Zealand assets for the asking price. Photo/File.

Potential buyers of Nine Entertainment's New Zealand assets - which include the news website Stuff - have offered less than A$50m ($52.5m) for the operations, the Australian newspaper reported.

The New Zealand print operations - inherited by Nine following its merger with Fairfax Media last year - may need to be written down in value as a result, the paper said.

The Australian's Dataroom column said Nine had been hoping to sell the assets for around A$110m through Jefferies or Macquarie Capital.

However, suitors were not prepared to pay A$50m for the New Zealand business, the paper said.

DataRoom said that as a result, Nine may now write down the New Zealand business to about A$28m.

Along with Stuff, the assets include Sunday newspapers, and regional and suburban newspapers.

The report said New Zealand entrepreneur Shane Bradley was thought to have made an offer for Nine's New Zealand assets, but it was not believed to be high.

Entrepreneur Shane Bradley is understood to have made a bid. Photo/File

The Commerce Commission last year blocked an earlier plan to combine the New Zealand operations, now owned by Nine, with NZME, publisher of the New Zealand Herald.

The Australian said Nine may choose to demerge the assets if a buyer cannot be found.