Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) was an Australia investment company focused on subscription television.

History

Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) was a publicly listed Australian company. Its two largest shareholders were

Consolidated Press Holdings James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control ...

and the Seven Group Holdings. CMH was formed following a name change by Publishing & Broadcasting Limited (PBL), and the PBL and Crown Schemes of Arrangement, in November 2007. CMH had a 25 per cent interest in Foxtel. CMH's stake in Foxtel was held jointly with News Corp through the joint. The remaining 50% share of Foxtel was owned by

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX ...

. CMH had a 50 per cent shareholding in

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantity ...

, Fox Footy, Fox Sports News and Fuel TV), with the other 50 per cent held by News Corp. CMH previously held a 50% interest in PBL Media, with assets including the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television ne ...

, NBN Television,

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

, Australian Consolidated Press,

NineMSN Nine.com.au (formerly Ninemsn) is an Australian news and current events website, owned by ASX-listed company, Nine Entertainment Co. It was originally established as a 50:50 joint venture between Microsoft and PBL Media (now Nine Entertainmen ...

, Carsales, Ticketek and the Sydney Super Dome. In September 2007 CMH sold down a further 25% of its interest in PBL Media to

CVC Capital Partners CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based French private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately US$133 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, E ...

. This was followed in December 2008 with CVC injecting over $300 million into PBL Media, which resulted in CMH's shareholding being diluted to less than 1% of the company.

Investor history

The company was originally controlled by the Packer family. In July 2008 the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

bought a $100 million stake in CMH, equal to 4.82% of the company. On 16 December 2008, PBL Media issued a press release stating that the company's majority shareholder, CVC Asia Pacific, had refinanced debt facilities as well as injecting in excess of $300 million. CMH stated that they would not be investing any further funds, and as such, CMH's 25% interest became diluted to a stake less than 1%. In July 2009 the Seven Network purchased a further 13% shareholding in CMH, bringing Seven's total shareholding to 18%. Within days CPH had increased its stake by 1.5% to 40%. On 15 July 2009 the Seven Network further increased its stake to 19.5% In August 2009 CMH announced the sale of 54 Park Street, Sydney (the long time Packer family HQ) to

AMP Capital Investors AMP Capital is a large global investment manager headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Its owner, AMP Group, was established in 1849, and is one of Australia's largest retail and corporate pension providers. AMP Capital has a strategic alliance ...

and the sale of all shareholdings in Seek to institutional investors. News Corp submitted a bid for Consolidated Media Holdings in 2012. Seven Group Holdings also submitted a bid. The

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tr ...

approved the takeover bid placed by News Corp, however, denied the bid placed by Seven Media Holdings. The News Corporation takeover was approved by both the shareholders and the Federal Court, taking effect on 2 November 2012 and this ended the Packer family control of any large media company.

Major shareholders

As at June 2012, CMH's major shareholders were

(50%) and Seven Group Holdings (25%).Annual Report for year ended 30 June 2012 page 64
Consolidated Media Holdings

Assets

Consolidated Media Holdings had shares in the following companies: * Foxtel (25%) *

(50%)

References

{{reflist Companies based in Sydney Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Defunct broadcasting companies of Australia Entertainment companies established in 2007 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2012 Holding companies established in 2007 Holding companies disestablished in 2012 Holding companies of Australia 2007 establishments in Australia 2012 establishments in Australia