Village Roadshow has formally accepted Southern Cross Media’s offer for its 52.5% stake in Austereo, handing majority control of the company to Southern Cross. Stock Exchange paperwork submitted this week shows than a number of small investors have also accepted the offer, as have institutional investors such as Macquarie Bank and Deutsche Bank.  There was little doubt that Village would accept the offer, as the company signalled its intention to do so right from the start of the takeover bid. The announcement and formal share transfer now complete one more step in the takeover process.

Now that the formal proceedings have reached critical mass, Peter Harvie and Rhys Holleran can begin formal conversations about how the transition of ownership will take place. Both are on record saying they have a high degree of respect for each other, and they have worked co-operatively in many arenas, including the CRA Board and various industry committees, so the transition of control is expected to be smooth.

Village intends to use the $362 million it has received from the deal to develop theme parks in China and return one dollar per share back to shareholders in a special dividend.

Stock exchange documents show that Deutche Bank transferred 16 .7 million shares this week for a consideration of  $33 million.

The reporting document for the much larger majority Village Roadshow stake (and sundry smaller investors) is below.