Rob Murray, the chairman of Southern Cross Media Group (SCA), has today retired after only announcing last week that he intended continue on the board for another six months.

The move comes as ARN Media’s recently increased takeover bid for SCA is reportedly being serious considered.

Murray was an SCA board member since September 2014, ascending to chairman in August 2020. He cited the revised proposal from ARN as a key factor in his decision to retire early, saying was “hopeful this will help avoid the distraction and unnecessary time, cost, and resources that would be required by the recent call by one of our shareholders for an extraordinary general meeting.”

The SCA board has appointed Heith Mackay-Cruise as the new chairman. An existing board member with a tenure of three and a half years, Mackay-Cruise was previously CEO of ACP Magazines.