One of New Zealand’s largest media organizations is being sold for a single dollar to its chief executive, the owners announced yesterday.
The organization Stuff prints many of the nation’s daily newspapers and runs a popular news Web site of the same name. It employs about 900 staff, including 400 journalists.
Owned by Australia’s Nine Entertainment Co, Stuff faced financial challenges before the coronavirus pandemic struck and has since seen advertising revenues plunge.
Photo: AP / Stuff
In a statement to the Australian stock market, Nine Entertainment said Stuff would be sold to chief executive Sinead Boucher in a management buyout deal that would be completed by the end of the month.
“We have always said that we believe it is important for Stuff to have local ownership and it is our firm view that this is the best outcome for competition and consumers in New Zealand,” Nine Entertainment chief executive Hugh Marks said.
Boucher said she has been “blown away” by the positive feedback she has been receiving about the purchase.
“I feel really happy, relieved and proud. It’s been a really intense couple of weeks getting to the finish line,” she said.
Boucher, 49, began her career as a reporter for The Press newspaper in Christchurch and later helped lead some of the company’s digital innovations.
She said she has no immediate plans for any staff reductions or newspaper closures, but added the ownership change is not a silver bullet to cure the issues that Stuff and other media companies are facing.
Boucher said she would look to increase revenues from online readers.
Stuff last month set up an option for readers to donate money.
Boucher said she is purchasing Stuff through a limited liability company and is working through the details of a plan to transition the ownership by giving staff a direct stake as shareholders in the company.
The deal brings to an end the efforts of rival media company NZME to buy Stuff. Discussions between the two companies turned acrimonious and ended up in the hands of lawyers.
The New Zealand High Court last week declined an interim injunction sought by NZME that could have delayed the sale to Boucher.
Nine Entertainment said that it would retain ownership of a printing plant in Wellington and lease it back to Stuff. It would also get some of the profits from the recent sale of company offshoot Stuff Fibre, an Internet provider.
Most New Zealand media companies have been struggling since the pandemic struck. Stuff has temporarily cut employees’ pay, while NZME has announced plans to cut 200 jobs.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS