This was published 4 years ago
Debt-ridden Seven West Media receives offer for WA headquarters
By Colin Kruger
Seven West Media has confirmed it might have another asset sale option to address its debt woes after receiving a non-binding offer from a third party to buy and leaseback its Perth headquarters.
It did not identify the potential buyer but said they were currently undertaking due diligence. "Seven is not in receipt of a binding offer, however, if it receives and accepts one in binding form it will update the market," the media company told shareholders in an ASX statement.
The large Osborne Park site houses The West Australian newspaper, Community News and Seven West Media. Last week The West Australian reported Primewest Property Investors was preparing to buy the site for $75 million.
Seven West Media CEO James Warburton and chairman Kerry Stokes.Credit: Peter Rae
The Kerry Stokes-controlled television, newspaper and magazine company was struggling with its financial performance and $541 million debt even before the impact of COVID-19.
According to confidential ThinkTV data obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, television revenue fell by almost a fifth for the first three months of the calendar year as audiences declined for the cricket and cooking show My Kitchen Rules. The network booked $186.6 million in advertising revenue for the period compared with $228.5 million for the same period last year.
Seven was trying to sell assets including its production arm Seven Studios and its digital venture portfolio before the COVID-19 pandemic, after reporting a half yearly revenue of $772 million and a loss of $67 million.
Seven was in talks with its lenders last month before it withdrew its ASX revenue guidance for 2020 due to falls in advertising and the loss of key sporting events. It has told staff to work four-day weeks and take a 20 per cent pay cut until the end of the financial year.
The broadcaster applied for the federal government's JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme last week, an initiative designed to minimise the hit to employment from the pandemic. To qualify Seven West would have had to demonstrate a more than 50 per cent decline in revenue since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
Seven West shares were trading 3.5 per cent higher at 8.8¢ at midday.