Nine finalises Fairfax merger

Australian media giant Nine Entertainment has completed its merger of Fairfax.

Under the deal, the brand will now all fall under the name Nine. The combined company will now have four separate media divisions including Television, Publishing, Printing and Community Media.

The merger, which was first announced in July, will see Nine take a 51.1% stake in Fairfax, creating a company with a combined market value of $4.2bn.

Nine will now gain Fairfax newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as The Age and The Australian Financial Review. It will also acquire the 50% stake in streamer Stan that it did not own, and Fairfax’s 60% stake in real estate listings website Domain.com.

There was some worry that stakeholders may appeal the Australian federal court’s approval of the merger.

Ahead of the court’s decision, it had heard a last-minute challenge from former Domain boss Anthony Catalano, who owns 1% of Fairfax. Catalano argued that the deal would not be best for shareholders as Nine’s shares began to fall on announcement of the merger.

Catalano had suggested that his legal team may appeal the court’s decision before 7 December, its deadline, but decided not to do so.