AUSTRALIAN OFFER FOR “DOMINION”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30365, 14 February 1964, Page 10

AUSTRALIAN OFFER FOR “DOMINION”

Adelaide News Group Raises Bid To £2.2m (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 13. A third take-over bid for all the shares in the Wellington Publishing Company, the proprietors of the “Dominion,” was announced tonight. It came from the Adelaide News group and was for a total of £2,200,000 or £22 a £5 share.

It compares with the first offer of £l6 10s a share from the Thomson Organisation of London, which is £550,000 less than the latest offer, and with the offer of Wilson and Horton, Ltd., owners of the “New Zealand Herald,” of 13 of their 10s shares plus 10s in cash for every £5 “Dominion” share. At the then value of the Wilson and Horton shares, that offer represented £l9 13s 6d a share.

The latest offer was announced in Wellington by the managing-director of News, Ltd., of Adelaide, 32-year-old Mr K. R. Murdoch.

“My company’s decision to buy shares in the ‘Dominion’ newspaper is made tonight after discussions with the chairman and directors of the ‘Dominion’ extending over several weeks,” said Mr Murdoch in a statement tonight. .“It. has been our objective all along to enter into some mutual arrangement wth the ‘Dominion’s’ directors under which our companies together would inject new energies into this important New Zealand newspaper, and, together fight off the monopoly attacks from London and Auckland. “At no time during these very cordial negotiations has my company sought anything more than a minority interest in the ‘Dominion,’ or, in fact, more than one of our representatives on the New Zealand board of directors.

“We have, indeed,' discussed several formulae of co-operation, . including an exchange of shares which would have given the ‘Dominion’ shareholders, through their company, ah active and profitable interest in our Australian publishing and television operations, and the ‘Dominion’ board, a rep-

resentative on the board of News, Ltd. “All pur discussions have been friendly and frank, and have, in fact, been reported twice to the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) and his colleagues. “Moreover, at a certain stage in these discussions we were encouraged to believe that some such plan of defence might have been welcome. We have made absolutely clear our willingness to enter into binding undertakings to protect the traditions, tone and general direction of the ‘Dominion’ and to help to conduct it in the spirit of this great city. At any rate, to do otherwise would not only be inviting non-acceptability, it would be commercial folly. “It has now been indicated to me that' all these discussions have gone for nothing, and that the board, though sorely pressed by two takeover offers and possibly more, is at present in no mood to contemplate anything. “It is, therefore, with regret that we find ourselves forced to go over the heads of the directors to save this potentially great newspaper from the dangerous situation in which it finds itself.”