Fairfax shareholders vote “Yes”

Fairfax shareholders have voted for the Nine/Fairfax merger to go ahead.

Fairfax shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger with Nine Entertainment at this mornings meeting with over 81% giving the go ahead to the end of year merger
 
The only remaining stumbling block could be an eleventh-hour bid for up to 19.9 per cent of the publishers shares and a sell off of non-core assets by former Domain chief executive Antony Catalano.
 
Mr Calalano asked Fairfax to delay the vote until Sunday evening and may now look to block the deal in court.
 
In responding to the new offer the Fairfax Board released a statement saying the it “…contains no actual proposal that could be considered by Fairfax shareholders as an alternative to the proposed scheme of arrangement with Nine,”

A Nine spokesperson says “Nine welcomes the result of the Fairfax Scheme vote as an endorsement of the opportunities this merger presents for both companies’ shareholders, our collective staff and for our clients and partners. We are now working very hard to realise the cost synergies and explore revenue opportunities that will enable us to continue to invest in great Australian content and journalism.” 

If the deal goes ahead on the 7th of December, the Fairfax name will disappear from the medai landscape after 177 years with the new entity to be simply known as Nine.

Nine will then own a 54.5 per cent stake in radio network Macquarie Media, the current Nine Network, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, a majority stake in Domain, and the streaming service Stan.

Heading it will be Hugh Marks and Peter Costello, currently the chief executive and chairman of Nine Entertainment.

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