Nine Entertainment have announced the sale of its broadcast radio assets – 2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR, 2UE, Magic1278 and 4BH – to the Laundy Family Office for $56 million.

Craig Laundy from the Laundy Family Office said:

“We look forward to introducing ourselves as we make our way around to the network’s stations over the coming weeks and months.

The Laundy Family is backing management and all employees to work with us over the coming years to grow this business. We want you to help us continue the important role the stations play in the life of every-day Australians.

We see strong similarities between hotels and talk back radio. Patrons in our venues are at the centre of everything we do and we will have that same ethos with our listeners.

In public bars, we chat with our customers about the issues of the day. A lot of the time, the thoughts in the minds of our customers are shaped by what is said on the radio. Many of our patrons call the open lines and there are no better arbiters of what passes “The Pub Test”.

We would like to thank Nine CEO Matt Stanton for the good faith he has shown in the negotiations that have been conducted. We look forward to enjoying a strong strategic and commercial partnership with Matt and Nine into the future.

We would also like to thank the Nine Radio senior management team, led by Tom Malone, for their help in understanding the business throughout the negotiations. We are excited about working with them to shape and grow this business into the future.”

For those not familiar with this eighty-year-old, four-generation family business, a bit of background as to why this purchase shouldn’t have come as the surprise it was to many.

The origins of the business date back to 1945 when Arthur Laundy Snr and his wife Veronica bought the leasehold of the Sackville Hotel in Rozelle, Sydney. Two decades later they purchased land at Bass Hill and built the Twin Willows Hotel which is still Arthur Jnr‘s main headquarters.

Because of a challenging start to life, where Arthur Snr was put into an orphanage when his parents separated and neither were willing to keep the children, he encouraged his own son Arthur Jnr’s interest by facilitating the leaseholds for him for the Crossroads Hotel in Liverpool and  the Royal Exhibition Hotel in Surry Hills when Arthur Jnr was only in his early 20s.

In 1969 Arthur Snr and three of his staff were killed the light plane he was piloting crashed in a dam in Wellington, NSW. The junior Arthur was able to take control of the his father’s interests as well as his own and together with his new wife Margaret started to build the Laundy empire which now extends to more than 100 pubs, bottle shops, hotels and other interests like the Lone Pine Plaza in Umina Beach.

Arthur and Margaret have four children who have all been or are still involved with the business. Craig, the eldest, spent six years as the Liberal Party member for Reid. Another son Stuart appeared on the Bachelorette in 2017. As of 2023 there are also 13 grandchildren.

In 2004 Arthur Laundy was awarded an AM and two years later was named Hotelier of the Year by the National AHA.

In 2024 Arthur sat down for a lengthy and mostly business centric chat with Mark Bouris for his podcast Straight Talk. A died hard fan and financial backer of the Canterbury Bulldogs, Arthur used the NRL analogy that his parents threw the ball to him, the winger, and he’s just kept on running with it.

The comments afterwards, from those who know and have worked with the Laundys and those who were simply impressed by his journey and wisdom, were a further reflection of his work ethic, honesty and dedication:

The Laundy group have long advertised with Nine, Craig has a weekly segment on Clinton Maynard‘s 2GB Drive Show and their venues are used for OBs and the like. Ben Fordham said this morning:

“(T)hey know that the advertising works. So, they’ve obviously doubled down and thought, righto, we really want to invest in this. And they purchased the whole lot. And I’ve known the family for a long time. They’re just good, decent, hard working, knockabout people.”

In their first correspondence to staff today Arthur and Craig wrapped up by saying:

“At the end of the day, not-unlike those listeners who use the talkback catchcry, we share the same love of radio, with one particular difference.

We are “long time listeners, first time owners!”

That’s the reason why Nine staff are excited and hopeful today.

The market reacted positively to the news, with Nine Entertainment shares rising about 4% to $1.13 at the opening of trading today. Nine intends to maintain its presence in audio through its podcasting output. Nine bought the stations about 7 years ago for $275 million.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email: [email protected]

Pictured – Members of the Laundy family with Arthur holding an award. From the Laundy Hotel website.

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