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Simon Maude / Things
NZME will go to court after Nine said it had ended talks about selling it.
Auckland media company NZME has gone to the High Court to request a court order requiring Stuff’s Australian owner Nine not to turn his back on negotiations to sell Stuff to NZME.
NZME, which owns the New Zealand HeraldHe said in a statement Monday that he was still in “a binding exclusive bargaining period” with Nine for the purchase of Stuff and “does not accept that the exclusivity has been validly terminated.”
Nine had said Monday that negotiations with NZME over the sale of Stuff had ended last week.
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NZME said Thursday that it had filed a request for an interim injunction against Nine “requesting orders to enforce this binding agreement between NZME and Nine on April 23, 2020.”
The court order hearing will take place at Auckland High Court on Friday.
An initial statement by the NZME to the NZX on Monday, saying it planned to buy things for a dollar, resulted in an approach to the editor of the NZX Regulation, after Nine said the talks had ended.
Subsequently, NZME issued a new announcement to the exchange, signaling Nine’s position but also claiming that, as far as NZME was concerned, it was still negotiating to buy things.
At the same time that it reiterated its intentions to purchase Stuff, NZME submitted a new request to the Commerce Commission to allow it to purchase Stuff.
A spokesperson said a request had been received but more information was required.
“We cannot give an estimate of how long this request will take to process at this stage.”
NZME shareholders are urged to vote for a breakdown of the company’s assets.
Individual shareholders submitted three resolutions to the company’s annual meeting next month. The NZME board has recommended that shareholders reject them.
