APN News & Media says it will sell assets and divest joint ventures to pay down debt, as new chairman Peter Cosgrove denies the company is now controlled by its largest shareholder, Dublin-based Independent News & Media. "I’d prefer to sell none of them, but I do think we have too many joint ventures, so I’d like to tidy that up a little bit, but again that’s a matter for the CEO," Mr Cosgrove told The Australian after yesterday’s AGM. He was referring to some of APN’s outdoor advertising and radio businesses.