Bruce Gordon unveiled as mystery buyer of Nine stake

Mystery buyer of Nine stake revealed to be WIN owner Bruce Gordon.

WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon.

The identity of the mystery buyer behind a share raid on Nine Entertainment has been revealed as WIN Corp owner Bruce Gordon.

A substantial holder notice to the stock market all but confirms that Mr Gordon is pursuing a merger with Nine if the federal government’s media reform package is approved by parliament.

A filing by corporate lawyers Atanaskovic Hartnell discloses that Mr Gordon’s private company Birketu swiped a 3.4 per cent stake worth about $50 million.

Since the share raid was undertaken after market on Thursday, industry sources have been pointing the finger at WIN, which is Nine’s regional broadcasting partner, but until now the speculation has never been confirmed.

Mr Gordon is Nine’s main shareholder, with a 15 per cent stake. The notice said Birketu has taken a “derivative position in relation to the ordinary shares of Nine.”

The transaction has been undertaken as a cash-settled equity swap, which means Mr Gordon is not breaching the Broadcasting Services Act because he has not acquired any physical shares.

Deutsche Bank has essentially purchased shares on behalf of Mr Gordon’s Birketu for a limited period of time.

This is a private contract in which the other party will cover any losses should the share price fall, but will also receive all the upside.

In recent years, investors have used equity-swap transactions to gain influence over target firms, without having to put up substantial amounts of capital initially.

However, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said it was “actively monitoring the situation” now that the transaction has been filed to the stock market.

Mr Gordon, who splits his time between Wollongong and Ber­muda, has played a key role in Australian television since the late 1970s. He also owns a 15 per cent stake in Ten Network.
A spokeswoman for ACMA said: “The ACMA is aware of the recent ASX announcement by Bruce Gordon, Birketu Pty Ltd and Win Corporation Pty Ltd.”