Sunraysia denies it erred in WIN bid

SUNRAYSIA Television, which owns Nine's Perth television station, has used an ASX statement to deny suggestions that it rejected an offer from WIN Corporation, prior to accepting a lower bid from PBL Media.

SUNRAYSIA Television, which owns Nine's Perth television station, has used an ASX statement to deny suggestions that it rejected an offer from WIN Corporation, prior to accepting a lower bid from PBL Media.

It was widely reported yesterday that WIN had made a bid that valued Sunraysia at $13.85 a share in the lead-up to the $136.3 million PBL Media bid currently on the table for the Nine Perth affiliate.

That bid valued Sunraysia at less than $12 a share.

But in a statement to the ASX yesterday, Sunraysia company secretary Lindsay Ruddle denied the substance of the reports.

"The directors of Sunraysia confirm that at no time did it have an offer from WIN Corporation or its subsidiary ENT for $13.85 per Sunraysia share to acquire all of the shares outstanding in Sunraysia or any equivalent transaction to the sale," he said.

The controlling shareholder of Sunraysia, Eva Presser, holds about 49 per cent of the group, while WIN holds about 44 per cent of Sunraysia.

Sources close to WIN were believed to have been concerned that Sunraysia's directors had not considered a higher offer for Nine Perth by WIN.

A spokeswoman for WIN said yesterday the company had no comment on Sunraysia's statement.

Meanwhile, market sources have speculated this week that the court dispute between WIN Corp and Sunraysia might at least partly be a strategic play by WIN to extract a better deal in upcoming affiliation negotiations for the regional operator with PBL Media's Nine Network.

An affiliation agreement between WIN and Nine is due to be finalised by the end of the year.