Prime throws its hat into the ring for TV3, TV4

By DANIEL RIORDAN

Prime New Zealand wants to buy TV3 and TV4 from their debt-burdened Canadian parent CanWest Global Communications.

Prime NZ chairman Brent Harman said his company had made an indicative bid, at CanWest's request, for the media giant's New Zealand assets.

"CanWest has offered the assets and the timing of it is not something we've had any influence over. We were asked if we wanted to bid and we thought about it and decided we would. We'll wait like everyone else, see what the process does and then decide what it means."

Harman would not say how much CanWest wanted for its unprofitable television stations, or if Prime was also bidding for CanWest's New Zealand radio stations, which are also for sale.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that Australia's Ten Network, 57.5 per cent owned by Canadian-based CanWest, had also made a bid. Ten spokeswoman Margaret Fearn declined to comment.

The SMH said CanWest wanted between $100 million and $150 million for the TV channels, and $200 million for CanWest's radio stations, which include Radio Pacific and More FM.

Ten, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, is chasing both the TV and radio assets, while Prime is after only the TV assets, the newspaper said.

Australian radio operators Austereo and RG Capital were also reported to be interested in the radio assets. RG Capital chairman Tim Hughes told the Business Herald his company had expressed an interest but would not comment further, citing a confidentiality agreement.

RG Capital, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, is the largest commercial radio operator in Queensland and Tasmania, with 32 stations mainly in the adult contemporary and contemporary hit formats.

The managing director of Austereo, Brad March, was unavailable for comment.

Indicative bids were due a week ago and final bids close in a month, the report said.

CanWest's New Zealand chief executive, Brent Impey, has refused to comment on the sale process since confirming in April that JBWere was advising the company on ownership options, which included a public float and a private equity sale.

JBWere chief executive Clark Perkins was unavailable for comment.

CanWest is selling the assets to help repay about C$3.9 billion ($5.2 billion) in debt.

CanWest's New Zealand radio stations are profitable, although the television business reported a loss of $8.9 million in the year to August 31, compared with a profit of C$832,000 a year earlier.

Sky Network Television, which has been talked of as a possible buyer, had not lodged a bid, said chief executive John Fellet.

While Sky might be interested in TV3 and TV4, it was not interested in becoming part of a competitive bidding process.