Media Insider: Billionaire Jim Grenon opens up on his NZME board move and NZ Herald strategy - his desire to ‘improve the journalism’ and increase readership

Billionaire and NZME board nominee Jim Grenon has opened up on some of his plans for the NZ Herald.

Billionaire and NZME board nominee Jim Grenon opens up on some of his plans for the NZ Herald, as the names of all six new board nominees are revealed. He also says it’s ironic being portrayed as a “cartoon villain” and to be lectured about transparency by a former Cabinet minister who resigned over shareholding issues.

The Auckland-based Canadian billionaire who wants to overhaul NZ Herald owner NZME’s board has spoken of his desire to invest in the company’s editorial endeavour and has criticised the journalists’ union for what he describes as a misrepresentation and “clumsy deception” of his position.

“Many of the shareholders supporting me are funds [that may have small investors] trying to make a profit,” Jim Grenon said in a statement he provided to the Herald.

“It is concern about operational aspects of NZME that is driving this change. The editorial content is very much a side issue but the quality of the journalism does impact everything else in the business and is also the board’s ultimate responsibility.

“The new board intends to improve on the journalism, with an emphasis on factual accuracy, less selling of the writer’s opinion and appealing to a wider political spectrum.”

Jim Grenon owns just over 9% of NZME and has put forward his name to be a new board director.

Readers, he said in the statement, could choose what to read.

“This may well mean the Herald spends more on editorial content and certainly will mean training programmes to help staff advance their skills and careers. With the growing number of publications, higher quality is going to be important for the Herald to maintain relevance.

“My goal is to increase readership levels.”

Grenon prepared the statement ahead of an appearance on Tuesday on TVNZ’s Breakfast show of E tū union director Michael Wood during which the former Labour Government minister called for assurances from Grenon that editorial independence would be maintained if he was successful in his bid to become a new NZME director.

Grenon, who has taken a 9.3% stake in NZME, is one of four nominees whose names have been put forward by him and his company to replace existing board members. NZME shareholders will have the chance to vote at their annual meeting on April 29.

His fellow nominees are lawyer, NZ on Air board member and prominent blogger Philip Crump; former TradeMe director and Warehouse chief commercial officer Simon West; and the managing director of private equity firm Caniwi Capital, Des Gittings.

Another substantial shareholder, Osmium Partners – which owns 6.57% of the company – has filed nominations for the appointment of two new directors, separate from Grenon’s proposed nominees. Its two nominations are John Lewis and Adam Hoydysh.

Grenon said in the statement that he sent to the Herald: “My communications to NZME about directors had a message I hoped the journalists might find reassuring. NZME has chosen not to publish that, so far, so I am following up with this.

“Regardless of how the contest for directors turns out, I would like the journalists, including union members, to be optimistic about their future.”

The Herald has sought from NZME the full letter Grenon sent to the company, outlining his concerns. It has so far declined to release it.

NZME chair Barbara Chapman.

In a statement to the Herald last night, NZME chair Barbara Chapman said the board was “committed to ensuring all shareholders receive complete and accurate information regarding Mr Grenon’s approach”.

“This will take place once the board has fully assessed Mr Grenon’s letter, considered its implications for NZME as a business and New Zealand’s leading media organisation, and received independent advice.

“Providing selective information in the public arena, or only to some parties, is not helpful to a fair and informed process.”

A new editorial board?

Grenon appears to have already mustered sizeable support, with indications late last week about 47% of NZME’s shareholders back his push for four new directors for the publicly-listed company. The fifth spot would be filled by an existing board member chosen by the other four.

If successful in making it on to the NZME board, Grenon said he expected an editorial board would be established “with representation from both sides of the spectrum”.

“It will take some time for NZME to evolve, so encouraging panic right now seems an over-reaction to me, although I do understand industry fears after a challenging year,” he said, referring to Wood’s comments.

“I wonder if the motivation is a drive for more union members?”

In an E tū statement on Friday, Wood said Grenon had a “clear agenda to use NZME for his own interests”.

“Mr Grenon clearly wants to use his financial clout to steer the editorial direction of one of New Zealand’s largest and most important media networks,” Wood said.

“While changes to media ownership in New Zealand are common, there is not any recent example of an extremely wealthy individual seeking to use an ownership stake to steer public discourse in the way that Mr Grenon, based on his track record, seems to be attempting.

“These concerns are heightened by a lack of transparency. When his initial stake in NZME was revealed, Mr Grenon indicated that he was not intending to make any further moves, yet within a week it has been reported that he is working closely with a member of the NZ on Air board and a high-profile businessman to take over the board.”

‘Clumsy deception’

Grenon said no one from the union knew anything about him and it was “just speculating, based on very little information”.

“Wealthy people are not all alike and come from all spectrums, including moderate. I do not have a history of being either a public or political person but I am concerned about the quality of the media in NZ,” Grenon said.

“Note also that I will have just one vote on the board and I need the support of a lot of other shareholder votes to get on the board. I can also be voted out later.”

He said it was a “leap” to think someone knew what would happen at the Herald based on his earlier media ventures Centrist and NZ News Essentials.

Grenon is no longer listed as a shareholder and director of Centrist, which many commentators and observers view as a right-of-centre platform. Those roles were assumed by managing editor Tameem Barakat in 2023.

“Centrist is a small publication with a specific mandate to make the NZ news concise and curated for those who don’t wish to take a lot of time to keep informed,” Grenon said in his statement.

“This included some information on the other side of stories that were not being told in the sheltered enclave that is NZ. It mostly aggregated articles, which was part of the inspiration for the name (ie your centre for news). That is not the mandate of the Herald.”

NZME owns the NZ Herald, Newstalk ZB, BusinessDesk, OneRoof and a suite of entertainment radio stations and regional news titles. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Grenon took aim at the union’s criticism of a lack of transparency.

It “just shows the lack of understanding, at best” of the person who had approved the union’s words, he said.

“At worst, it is an uninformed personal attack,” he said.

“There had been speculation, just prior to my having to reveal I had more than 5% of the shares, that a Canadian would be making a takeover bid. Since I wasn’t (to ensure no further misunderstanding, a takeover bid is an offer for the shares), I thought I would advise the market of that.

“Asking to remove the board is another thing entirely and talking to other shareholders or potential new directors in advance, and in confidence, is absolutely routine to accomplish that goal.

“I note the union has changed what it actually said in my release, from ‘no current intention to make a takeover bid’ to ‘not intending to make any other moves’.

“That is just clumsy deception. The fact they do it perhaps suggests they do not expect to be challenged by any knowledgeable journalist. Looking up the actual source document takes less than one minute.

“This is a prime example of the sort of misquoting that is destroying public trust in legacy media. It is disappointing but ironic that a union representing journalists did it. The journalists they represent deserve better.”

Grenon says having been “portrayed as a cartoon villain lacking transparency on shareholdings, I would note the irony of being lectured by Michael on that particular point”, referring to Wood’s own issues when he was a Cabinet minister in the last Labour Government.

E tū union director and former Cabinet minister Michael Wood. Photo / Alyse Wright

In June 2023, Wood was suspended as Transport Minister by then Prime Minister Chris Hipkins after failing to properly declare he held shares in Auckland Airport.

He sold the shares, with the $16,400 going to a charity, and resigned as a minister before an inquiry was completed, after revelations other shares he owned in Chorus, Spark and National Australia Bank (NAB) had not been properly disclosed. Wood lost his Mt Roskill seat in the 2023 election.

Where NZME, other shareholders stand

In her statement to the Herald on Tuesday night, NZME chair Barbara Chapman said there was an established process for nominating directors.

The nomination period for new board members closed at 5pm on Tuesday.

“In line with standard NZX/ASX protocols and our established procedures for the annual shareholder meeting, full details of all nominations will be included in our notice of meeting,” said Chapman.

“This ensures shareholders have the necessary time to review all information ahead of the meeting.

“The board will communicate fully with all shareholders in the coming weeks.”

Questions to NZME’s biggest shareholder, Australia’s Spheria Asset Management - which owns more than 19% of the company - have so far not been answered; there is little doubt that firm will play a critical role.

Another substantial shareholder, Osmium Partners, has also not responded to questions.

In a statement to the Herald last Thursday, Troy Bowker, the executive chairman of Caniwi Capital Partners Ltd, another of NZME’s listed shareholders, said: “I will be supporting Mr Grenon’s proposal at the AGM in full and my company [currently] has voting rights for 6,600,000 shares, some of which are held in our name, some in nominee accounts.”

Philip Crump – the lawyer, blogger and commentator who shot to prominence on Twitter (now X) through his pen name Thomas Cranmer and who is now an NZ on Air board member and a Waitangi Tribunal member – has so far declined to comment on his own involvement with Grenon. Crump was the founding editor of NZME’s ZB Plus news and opinion platform.

The Australian newspaper reported last week that if a boardroom spill is successful come April 29, the move would likely be followed “by the appointment of consultants to assess how to shake up the country’s flagship newspaper”, the NZ Herald.

Australian media executives with previous experience in the New Zealand industry could be tapped for positions to help reshape the company, reported The Australian, highlighting potential names including Michael Anderson, the former MediaWorks chief executive.

Last night, The Australian reported: “Possible options on the table could be pulling back from plans to expand into news video streaming, a move to a digital-only publication model and more investment in top talent in editorial that would lift subscriptions at a time when advertising revenue for the mainstream media is declining.”

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.