Seven West Media has acquired television licences from Southern Cross Media Group Limited for A$3.75 million.
As part of the agreement, Seven West Media will acquire Southern Cross Media Group’s television licenses and assets operating in Tasmania, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill, Mt Isa and Remote, Central and Eastern Australia.
The acquisition completes Seven West Media’s national broadcast network and opens new markets for Seven.
“Following this acquisition, Seven will reach almost 100% of Australia’s population [exRiverland],” Seven West Media director and CEO Jeff Howard said.
Howard said the acquisition is a positive step in Seven West Media’s strategic transformation program.
“Seven is Australia’s largest commercial, free to air broadcaster and we are excited by the opportunity to further leverage our leading news, sport and entertainment content in these new markets, across both Seven and 7plus to drive incremental revenue, earnings and cash flow.” Howard said.
Seven West Media is one of Australia’s largest media companies, reaching more than 19 million people a month.
In February last year, Australian Digital Holdings (ADH), a conservative online broadcaster launched in 2021, revealed plans to acquire around a dozen regional TV licenses from Southern Cross.
Seven West Media's swooping in on the acquisition is a big blow to ADH’s plans to launch Newsmax Australia, the Australian arm of the U.S. TV network Newsmax.
The payment is set to be paid on completion and the transaction will be immediately earnings accretive in FY26.
Seven West Media Ltd's (ASX: SWM) share price was 0.14 at the time of writing. Its market cap was approximately $215.48 million.
