Catalano, Waislitz up stake in Prime following deal with Bruce Gordon

Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz have lifted their stake in Prime Media to 20 per cent after striking deal with billionaire businessman Bruce Gordon.

Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz, who own rural and regional newspapers, have increased their stake in Prime Media. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Newspaper proprietors Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz have increased their stake in Prime Media to around 20 after striking a deal with billionaire businessman Bruce Gordon to buy some of his shares in the regional broadcaster.

The surprise purchase of an additional 18.8m shares for $4.2m from Mr Gordon, subject to approval from the media regulator, will make them Prime’s biggest shareholder, bumping Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven West Media to second spot on the share registry.

The move comes as Mr Gordon, who is also Nine Entertainment’s biggest shareholder with a 14.9 per cent stake, is understood to be in talks with media group about an affiliate deal. It follows the end of an exclusive negotiation period between Nine and Southern Cross Media, which owns TV and radio stations, last month.

Mr Catalano, who owns rural and regional newspaper publisher Australian Community Media together with Mr Waislitz, said the stake increase “demonstrates our confidence in the company and its management team and our deep commitment to the sector”.

“We continue to invest in these media assets because we believe regional Australians want better quality journalism in their communities,” he told The Australian.

In a note to ACM staff on Tuesday morning, Mr Catalano said it is “excited” about the stake increase to 19.99 per cent from 14.8 per cent, subject to relevant approvals.

“The Prime Media Group is in a strong financial position, it is well-managed, and we believe it has an important role to play in the evolving regional media landscape,” Mr Catalano said in the note, seen by The Australian.

Private media mogul Alex Waislitz has upped his stake in Prime Media noting the increase “demonstrates our confidence in the company”. Picture: David Geraghty

“ACM and Prime audiences have similar interests, aspirations and goals. We hope to explore ways in which we can work more closely to ensure we continue to deliver the highest-quality journalism for regional Australians.”

ACM has about 170 rural and regional newspapers including the Goulburn Post, Southern Highland News, The Area News and Wimmera Mail Time.

Mr Catalano, who is executive chairman of ACM, said the company has been working with Australian Communications and Media Authority for “several months” and expects approval to be granted soon.

It remains unclear if the pair will seek a seat on the Prime board or ask for any operational changes. “We’ll wait for ACMA approval first and then we’ll consider our position,” Mr Catalano said.

Mr Gordon had voting power of 11.59 per cent in Prime before his share deal with Mr Catalano and Mr Waislitz.

Prime and Mr Gordon weren’t immediately available to comment on the ownership changes.

Prime last month booked a near 66 per cent jump in earnings to $19.1m for the six months to December, helped by government payments of $8.6m. It received $4.4m in JobKeeper payments from the federal government and $4.2m from the $50m Public Interest News Gathering program, which was set-up by the government to help more than 100 regional publishers and broadcasters during the coronavirus crisis.

Billionaire businessman Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven bought its 14.9 per cent stake in Prime just hours after its $64m proposed merger with its affiliate partner was blocked by Mr Catalano and Mr Gordon, in December 2019. The marriage would have seen Seven take control of Prime’s regional reach.

Prime shares closed nearly 12 per cent higher at 24c on the ASX on Tuesday, while Seven slipped 1.9 cent to 51c.