Gordon’s man Paul Mallam quits Ten board

TEN director Paul Mallam has resigned from the board of the TV network, leaving Bruce Gordon without a representative.

TEN Network director Paul Mallam has resigned suddenly from the board of the free-to-air network, leaving major shareholder Bruce Gordon without a representative.

Sources said there had been a disagreement between Mallam and Bermuda-based Gordon, who will play a key role in the fate of the media company.

Local pay-TV operator Foxtel and US cable giant Discovery Communications are preparing to lob a cash-and-share offer for Ten, which will need the support of Gordon, whose shareholding is just under 15 per cent.

Mallam, a lawyer with 20 years of experience advising on media, IT and technology deals, joined the board of Ten in December 2010.

A conclusion to the long-running Ten saga will be clearer this week with Citigroup’s deadline for non-indicative bids falling tomorrow.

Under the Foxtel proposal, the company will take a 14.9 per cent stake.

Any offer needs the support of the network’s four main shareholders, Lachlan Murdoch, Gina Rinehart, James Packer and Bruce Gordon.

But the mooted deal could face resistance from the competition regulator. ACCC boss Rod Sims said it was too early to form a firm view, but intends to revisit a previous ruling.

Two years ago, Sims stopped Kerry Stokes’s Seven Group Holdings taking full control of James Packer’s pay-TV ­vehicle Consolidated Media.

“That position that we had back then has relevance here — there’s no doubt about that,” Sims said.

Foxtel is half owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian.

A statement released to the ASX has confirmed Mallam’s surprise resignation. It does not clarify if Gordon will nominate a replacement ahead of Ten’s AGM this month.

It comes after mining magnate Gina Rinehart resigned from the Ten board last month, immediately replaced by her alternate and Hancock Prospecting executive John Klepec.