APN News and Media looks likely to end its IPO plans and demerge its New Zealand arm NZME, which publishes the New Zealand Herald, pending approval at its annual general meeting.
APN has plans to divest its NZME media assets after abandoning its proposal for an initial public offering due to underperforming results.
NZME logged a three per cent dip in revenue for the 2015 period, following a decline trend for the business as APN posted a loss of A$10.2m $11.35m)
The giant Australia-based publishing and media company says it will reveal its final decision after its annual general meeting on May 11. According to reports, an unappealing asset combination for shareholders contributed to APN’s proposal to demerge with the New Zealand division was prompted by.
The demerge with NZME would come as little surprise as APN has shown a bent for offloading underperforming assets, for example it place its portfolio of regional newspapers up for sale in March following significant losses.
Analysts estimate NZME’s value at upwards of $200m.
