Battle to Buy NBN

24Apr07

The PBL Media vs. WIN Corporation stoush has moved to northern New South Wales with PBL Media making a “non-binding proposal” to purchase Nine Network affiliate NBN Television believed to be worth $170 million dollars last night, according to the The Australian.

A successful bid would raise new obstacles in WIN owner Bruce Gordon’s bid to build Australia’s first independent television network, which could bypass PBL to source its own programming.

Last week PBL executives held discussions at NBN’s Newcastle offices, leading to a statement released by parent company SP Telemedia, stating that “a non-binding proposal from PBL Media Pty Limited to purchase the company’s media assets”. PBL Media has not made a comment or a statement about the move.

SP Telemedia has granted them exclusive due diligence to assess the company, following a similar period of due diligence conducted in the last two weeks or so by WIN, which has now ended. Investment bank Goldman Sachs has been advising WIN on a takeover of NBN.

The move sets the stage for another bidding war between PBL Media and WIN, after WIN appeared to emerge victorious in a battle for Perth’s STW-9 last Friday. PBL Media had launched a $136 million bid for the station, but WIN ultimately topped the bid by $27 million. It is not yet known if PBL Media intends to continue that contest.