KEY POINTS:
Bidders led by media baron Tony O'Reilly's Independent News and Media Plc have increased their offer for APN News & Media to A$6.20 ($7.06) a share from A$6.10.
The consortium, which also includes private equity companies Providence Equity Partners and The Carlyle Group, advised that today's price was final, APN said shortly before 11am today.
A halt placed on the trading of APN's shares when the New Zealand stock market opened today was lifted soon after the announcement.
Chairman of the independent committee of the APN board, Ted Harris, said the increased offer represented 13.1 times 2006 attributable ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) and provided an attractive premium over historical trading prices for APN shares.
Independent expert Deloitte Corporate Finance had determined that the proposed scheme of arrangement was fair and reasonable and in the best interest of APN shareholders, he said.
The APN independent committee continued to believe that APN's share price would fall if the scheme was not implemented and no alternative proposal emerged.
The independent committee recommended that all shareholders vote in favour of the scheme at a meeting to be held in late May.
The latest offer is the fourth by the consortium since October for APN, which publishes 23 daily regional and 100 non-daily papers in Australia and New Zealand.
In February the consortium lifted its bid to A$3.8 billion.
Under the proposed deal, the O'Reilly family would sell their 42 per cent stake in APN and reinvest it to take a 35 per cent holding.
Providence Equity Partners would own 37.5 per cent, and The Carlyle Group 27.5 per cent.
APN, which owns the Herald and the Radio Network in New Zealand, reported net profit rose in the 2006 calendar year to A$159.52 million, up from A$149.66 million in 2005.
Shares in APN closed at $6.71 on the New Zealand sharemarket yesterday, having been as high as $7.16 last October.
- NZPA
