Facing declining revenues and changing reader habits, New Zealand’s two main newspaper groups yesterday said they were discussing a merger that could end decades of competition and result in hundreds of job losses.
Under the proposal, a single company would publish most of New Zealand’s metropolitan newspapers. That would mean readers from Auckland to Invercargill would end up reading many of the same stories on politics, business and sports.
If approved by regulators, the merger would combine the New Zealand newspapers, radio stations and Web sites owned by Fairfax Media and APN News & Media. Both companies, which are based in Australia, are seeking to divest their New Zealand assets and form them into a new, listed company.
Photo: New Zealand Herald via AP
APN publishes the nation’s biggest daily newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, while Fairfax publishes the next largest dailies, the Dominion Post and the Press. The companies also own two of the largest news Web sites, stuff.co.nz and nzherald.co.nz.
The companies say their businesses are complementary and the proposed merger would allow them to improve offerings to readers and advertisers.
However, unions and observers worry about the potential loss of jobs and diverse viewpoints.
The move represents the latest retrenchment in Australia and New Zealand, where many media firms are struggling to adjust to a rapidly changing landscape.
Gavin Ellis, a media commentator and former editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald, said the upside of the proposed merger was that it would allow the newspapers to survive longer than if the companies tried to go it alone.
The downside was the reduction in the variety and voices of journalists and opinion columnists, he said.
The two companies have a combined New Zealand workforce of about 3,000. Ellis said there could potentially be hundreds of job losses as the groups eliminated duplication in everything from political coverage to sales.
To complete the merger, APN plans to separate its New Zealand holdings and list them on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges under the name NZME. Fairfax would then fold its New Zealand assets into NZME.
APN chief executive Ciaran Davis said the two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding.
The merger will need approval from New Zealand’s Commerce Commission, which is tasked with ensuring business monopolies do not develop.
Commission spokesman Christian Bonnevie said it had not yet received an application, which would typically take between six weeks and one year to process depending on its complexity.
In a trading update yesterday, APN said market conditions have been challenging in New Zealand and its revenues were down 10 percent in the first quarter.
Fairfax Media, Australia’s second-largest newspaper publisher, has laid off about 2,000 employees, or about one-fifth of its staff, since 2012 and erected pay walls for its flagship papers in a bid to boost revenue.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The firm has already completed one fab, which is to begin mass producing 2-nanomater chips next year, while two others are under construction Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to begin construction of its fourth and fifth wafer fabs in Kaohsiung next year, targeting the development of high-end processes. The two facilities — P4 and P5 — are part of TSMC’s production expansion program, which aims to build five fabs in Kaohsiung. TSMC facility division vice president Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) on Thursday said that the five facilities are expected to create 8,000 jobs. To respond to the fast-changing global semiconductor industry and escalating international competition, TSMC said it has to keep growing by expanding its production footprints. The P4 and P5
DOWNFALL: The Singapore-based oil magnate Lim Oon Kuin was accused of hiding US$800 million in losses and leaving 20 banks with substantial liabilities Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin (林恩強) has been declared bankrupt in Singapore, following the collapse of his oil trading empire. The name of the founder of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (興隆貿易) and his children Lim Huey Ching (林慧清) and Lim Chee Meng (林志朋) were listed as having been issued a bankruptcy order on Dec. 19, the government gazette showed. The younger Lims were directors at the company. Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory Pte Ltd are the trustees, according to the gazette. At its peak, Hin Leong traded a range of oil products, made lubricants and operated loading
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
RSS