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SYDNEY - Billionaire Bruce Gordon, the owner of Australia's largest private media group, increased his stake in television broadcaster Ten Network Holdings, which has been put up for sale by its controlling shareholder.
Gordon, who owns regional broadcaster WIN Television Network, lifted his stake in Ten to 14 per cent, the company said yesterday.
CanWest Global Communications, Canada's biggest media company, put Ten up for sale in December. Ten is working with CanWest to find a buyer for its 56.4 per cent stake and the rest of the company.
Potential bidders such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Macquarie Media have dropped out of the sale process because CanWest's asking price of A$2 billion ($2.25 billion) was too high, the Australian Financial Review reported on February 6.
WIN requested documents explaining the Ten sale along with several buyout firms, the Sunday Herald Sun reported earlier this month, citing sources who said Gordon was unhappy with the sale process.
Gordon, 76, is the nation's 13th-richest man with an estimated wealth of US$1.05 billion ($1.5 billion), according to a Forbes list of the 40 richest people in Australia and New Zealand published this month.
- BLOOMBERG
