Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

investment company focused on subscription television.

History

Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) was a publicly listed Australian company. Its two largest shareholders were Consolidated Press Holdings and the

Seven Group Holdings SGH Ltd (formerly Seven Group Holdings) is an Australian diversified operating company, with businesses across industrial services, energy, and media. History Seven Network Limited was created in 1991 by receivership, receivers in order to b ...

. CMH was formed following a name change by Publishing & Broadcasting Limited (PBL), and the PBL and Crown Schemes of Arrangement, in November 2007. CMH had a 25 per cent interest in

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

. CMH's stake in Foxtel was held jointly with

News Corp The second and current incarnation of News Corporation, doing business as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed on ...

through the joint. The remaining 50% share of Foxtel was owned by

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

. CMH had a 50 per cent shareholding in

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

, Fox Footy, Fox Sports News and Fuel TV), with the other 50 per cent held by News Corp. CMH previously held a 50% interest in PBL Media, with assets including the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

NBN Television NBN is an Australian Australian television broadcasting, television station based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia. The station was inaugurated on 4 March 1962 as the first regional commercial television station in New Sout ...

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...

, Australian Consolidated Press,

NineMSN Nine.com.au (formerly Ninemsn) is an Australian news website, owned by Nine Entertainment. It was originally established as a 50:50 joint venture between Microsoft and PBL Media (now Nine Entertainment) in 1997 as "Ninemsn." Microsoft sold its ...

, Carsales, Ticketek and the

Sydney Super Dome The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...

. In September 2007 CMH sold down a further 25% of its interest in PBL Media to

CVC Capital Partners CVC Capital Partners plc is a Jersey-based private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately €186 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, European, ...

. This was followed in December 2008 with CVC injecting over $300 million into PBL Media, which resulted in CMH's shareholding being diluted to less than 1% of the company.

Investor history

The company was originally controlled by the

Packer family The Packer family has played a significant role in the Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the i ...

. In July 2008 the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

bought a $100 million stake in CMH, equal to 4.82% of the company. On 16 December 2008, PBL Media issued a press release stating that the company's majority shareholder, CVC Asia Pacific, had refinanced debt facilities as well as injecting in excess of $300 million. CMH stated that they would not be investing any further funds, and as such, CMH's 25% interest became diluted to a stake less than 1%. In July 2009, the Seven Network purchased a further 13% shareholding in CMH, bringing Seven's total shareholding to 18%. Within days CPH had increased its stake by 1.5% to 40%. On 15 July 2009 the Seven Network further increased its stake to 19.5% In August 2009, CMH announced the sale of 54 Park Street, Sydney (the long time Packer family HQ) to AMP Capital Investors and the sale of all shareholdings in

Seek SEEK Limited is an Australian employment website for job listings, headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. Seek also operates in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. History Seek was founded ...

to institutional investors. News Corp submitted a bid for Consolidated Media Holdings in 2012.

also submitted a bid. The

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

approved the takeover bid placed by News Corp, however, denied the bid placed by Seven Group Holdings. The News Corporation takeover was approved by both the shareholders and the Federal Court, taking effect on 2 November 2012 and this ended the Packer family control of any large media company.

Major shareholders

As at June 2012, CMH's major shareholders were Consolidated Press Holdings (50%) and

(25%).Annual Report for year ended 30 June 2012 page 64
Consolidated Media Holdings

Assets

Consolidated Media Holdings had shares in the following companies: *

(25%) *

(50%)

References

{{reflist Companies based in Sydney Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Defunct broadcasting companies of Australia Entertainment companies established in 2007 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2012 Holding companies established in 2007 Holding companies disestablished in 2012 Holding companies of Australia 2007 establishments in Australia 2012 establishments in Australia