Bruce McWilliam, a former Seven executive described as “a doyen of the media industry” and right hand man to billionaire Kerry Stokes, has taken a significant stake in his old company, now called Southern Cross Media Group.
Filings to the ASX show McWilliam has 5.33% of SCA after going on market to buy up shares in the television and radio media group.
Lawyer McWilliam, the former commercial director at the Seven network, forked out almost $13.5 million for more than 24 million shares.
Shares in SCA last traded at 56 cents, down from a 52 week high of 94 cents.
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 $268 million.
“I believe in the company and the shares came up at a good price given what they were at before the merger,” McWilliam told The Australian.
“They were almost half down and it’s a top TV network and strong radio network, both with national platforms.”
His old boss, Kerry Stokes, has a 20% interest in Southern Cross Media Group via his ASX-listed company SGH.
McWilliam resigned two years ago after nearly 20 years at the business.
Before joining Seven West in May 2003, McWilliam was a director of BSkyB, executive director of News International Television and general counsel of News International PLC. Previously, he was a partner in the law firms Gilbert & Tobin, Turnbull McWilliam and Allen Allen & Hemsley, specialising in media and commercial law.
“Moving forward, I’ll be focused on my corporate and media advisory and property interests,” he said when departing Seven.
Southern Cross Media Group, 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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