New Zealand regulator probes Canadian billionaire Grenon's stake buy in NZME (updated)
04/04/2025 06:26
Updates throughout with details on panel's probe, and background on share purchase April 4 (Reuters) - A New Zealand regulator on Friday said it was investigating Canadian billionaire James Grenon's acquisition of stake in media firm NZME NZM.NZ, citing a "reasonable possibility" of a breach of the country's takeover rules. The New Zealand Takeovers Panel said it inquired whether Grenon was an associate of Caniwi Capital Partners and Spheria Asset Management when he acquired a 9.3% stake in NZME, which owns the daily, NZ Herald. The panel considered that there was "reasonable possibility that the parties were associates" and that Grenon's share acquisition may not have been in compliance with rule 6(1)(a) of the Takeovers Code. The rule prohibits a person from becoming the holder of an increased percentage of voting rights in a company if they and their associates would hold more than 20% of the voting rights, barring exceptions. Spheria Asset Management holds 19% in NZME, while Caniwi Capital holds about 0.8%, as per data compiled by LSEG. Grenon has been attempting to overhaul NZME's current board citing the media firm's poor performance and high operating costs. He disclosed his stake of 17.5 million shares in NZME, amounting to a 9.3% stake, on March 1. Days later, he sent a letter to the board proposing replacing the current five board directors with four new members, which would propose to choose a fifth member from the existing board and name him Chair. "The combined operational performance of the two core businesses has been mediocre, to sliding, for the past 8 years, despite a temporary period of COVID-era gains," Grenon said in the letter. On March 31, NZME pushed its annual general meeting to early June from late April, citing concerns over Grenon's proposal, his lack of alternative plans, and the risk of him "gaining editorial control." NZME shares finished 3.4% lower at NZ$1.14 on Friday. They have gained 7.5% so far this year. ($1 = 1.7449 New Zealand dollars) (Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Varun H K) ((Adwitiya.Srivastava@thomsonreuters.com;))