Murdoch Junior buys into Australian b’caster

Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert, has invested A$15.6 million (US$11.4 million)  in Australian regional broadcaster Prime Media Group.

The deal, executed through Lachlan Murdoch’s private investment vehicle Illyria Nominees, leaves Murdoch’s eldest son with a 9.1% stake in Prime, which is leading free-to-air broadcaster Network Seven’s regional affiliate. Its largest shareholder is Paul Ramsay, a close associate of Seven Network chairman Kerry Stokes.

Last year Lachlan Murdoch tried and failed to engineer an A$3.3 billion deal for James Packer’s Consolidated Media Holdings, which would have given him a stake in Nine Network and pay TV operator Foxtel.