Bruce McWilliam, a former Seven executive, has gone on market to increase his stake in television and radio company Southern Cross Media to almost 10%.
According to documents lodged with the ASX, McWilliam, the former commercial director at the what was then Seven network, now has 9.74%.
That makes him the second largest shareholder after his old boss, billionaire Kerry Stokes, who has a 20% interest in Southern Cross Media Group via his ASX-listed company SGH.
Last month, McWilliam, described as the “doyen” of the media industry and former right hand man to Stokes, spent $13.5 million for more than 24 million shares.
Insiders said he paid around 56 cents per share in the latest round of buying. The shares have traded as high as 94 cents.
Heith MackayCruise announced earlier this month that he would step down as chairman and retire as a director on June 30. Teresa Dyson is chair-elect.
Ido Leffler is also stepping down and the company is looking to fill at least two spaces on the board of directors.
The merger of Seven West and SCA was designed to create a company with a market capitalisation of more than $400 million. It’s currently valued by the market at $270.5 million.
“I believe in the company and the shares came up at a good price given what they were at before the merger,” McWilliam said last month.
“They were almost half down and it’s a top TV network and strong radio network, both with national platforms.”
McWilliam resigned two years ago after nearly 20 years at the business.
Rohan Lund, a media executive and former chief executive of the NRMA, was last month appointed CEO of Southern Cross. He also was a director on the board. .
He replaced Jeff Howard who stepped down in February on the eve of the release of the group's December half results.
Southern Cross, in its first combined post-merger results, for both television and audio, reported total revenue down 1.5% to $1.008 billion in the half year to December.
Television revenue dropped 2.1% to $712 million, while audio was up 3.2% to $216.5 million.
No dividends were declared, with the company focused on debt reduction.
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