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 contr ...

and the

Seven Group Holdings Seven Group Holdings Limited (SGH, formerly Seven Network Limited) is an Australian diversified operating and investment group in the media, mining and construction industries. History Seven Network Limited was formed in 1991 by receivers t ...

. CMH was formed following a name change by

Publishing & Broadcasting Limited Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family. History Predecessors PB ...

(PBL), and the PBL and Crown Schemes of Arrangement, in November 2007. CMH had a 25 per cent interest in

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

. CMH's stake in Foxtel was held jointly with

News Corp News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the News Corporation (1980–2013), original News Corporation, it was formed ...

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 20 ...

. 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 quanti ...

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited, operated out of their Me ...

, Fox Sports News and

Fuel TV Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century C ...

), with the other 50 per cent held by News Corp. CMH previously held a 50% interest in

PBL Media Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brand ...

, 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 netw ...

NBN Television NBN is an Australian television station based in Newcastle, Australia. The station was inaugurated on 4 March 1962 as the first regional commercial television station in New South Wales, and has since expanded to 39 transmitters throughout Nor ...

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 Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 201 ...

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 Entertainment ...

Carsales carsales.com Ltd is an ASX 100 business in digital marketplaces across Oceania, Asia and The Americas. carsales was recognised by Forbes as one of the most innovative growth companies in 2017. History carsales.com Ltd (carsales) was founded b ...

Ticketek Ticketek is an Australian event ticketing company. Founded in 1979, the company is owned by TEG Pty Ltd with its headquarters in Sydney and operates ticketing operations for entertainment and sporting events in Australia and New Zealand. There ...

and the Sydney Super Dome. In September 2007 CMH sold down a further 25% of its interest in PBL Media to CVC Capital Partners. 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 The Packer family has played a significant role in the Australian media, political and social sphere since the beginning of the twentieth century. The family has had numerous interests in Australian business, most notably in media, property ...

. 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 broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

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 Park Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from George Street in the west to College Street in the east, where it becomes William Street. Description Park Street bisects Hyde ...

(the long time Packer family HQ) to AMP Capital Investors and the sale of all shareholdings in Seek to institutional investors. News Corp submitted a bid for Consolidated Media Holdings in 2012.

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 Trad ...

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

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

Assets

Consolidated Media Holdings had shares in the following companies: *

(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