Nine Entertainment shareholders have this week overwhelmingly approved the sale of NBN Television to the WIN Television network.
The move, which also includes the acquisition of Territory TV in Darwin, now clears the way for a momentous shift in regional small screen ownership.
Following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) approval earlier in the year, the company’s stakeholders voted 99.82% in favour of the deal.
Only 0.18% opposed it at a general meeting on Thursday 21 May.
The transaction enables the Bruce Gordon-owned WIN, centred in Wollongong, to pick up Nine’s Newcastle-based NBN, which operates across northern NSW and the Gold Coast, for $14.8 million.
Landing Territory TV adds another $500,000 to the price tag.
It’s understood, under the agreement, Nine will continue supplying programming, including news and sport, to the station for five years.
One NBN employee, who spoke under the proviso of anonymity, admitted staff were a bit worried moving forward.
“I guess that’s natural when these things happen, there’s always trepidation,” they said.
“Topics such as centralisation and cost-cutting rear their head.
“NBN is synonymous with Newcastle, so we hope it continues in that vein.”
The winds of change were first felt in January.
Nine announced an $850 million deal to buy out-of-home media company QMS and the conversion of NBN Television from a wholly-owned business to an affiliate to be owned and operated by regional partner WIN.
“These transactions will create a more efficient, higher-growth and digitally-powered Nine Group for our consumers, advertisers, shareholders and people,” chief executive officer Matt Stanton said at the time.
“This positions us well for the future, enabling the group to withstand industry disruption and deliver long-term sustainable value to our shareholders.”
It followed Nine’s $56 million announcement to sell off 2GB Sydney, 3AW Melbourne, 4BC Brisbane, 6PR Perth and 2UE Adelaide.
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