Nabila Ahmed writes in the Australian’s Abacus Column:
Fairfax Media is hoping to complete its sale of radio assets by the end of the month, with John Singleton’s Macquarie Radio Network the warm favourite to take the likes of 3AW in Melbourne, 2UE in Sydney and Perth’s 6PR. Fairfax adviser KPMG had been aiming for a late September deadline from the outset, but only recently have interested parties on the buy and sell sides become confident they might be able to pull it off in that time.
As well as MRN, private equity firm Ironbridge is in the running, with a break-up of the stations less likely. The assets are expected to fetch between $200 million and $250m, meaning MRN, with market capitalisation of $65m, would need to raise capital to fund a deal.
Most observers expect the company to issue fresh equity through UBS in what would be a de facto float allowing Singleton and business partner Mark Carnegie — who own 90 per cent of the thinly-traded stock between them — to sell down their shareholdings. But weak equity markets might mean MRN needs to go with a leverage finance deal.
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