AFR Article (take 2)

Prime Media cosies up to Seven West Media as affiliation draws nearerSarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim BoydJun 20, 2021 – 9.34pmSaveShareThere’s nothing like affiliate deals to re-spark corporate activity at Prime Media.Seven West Media led by CEO James Warburton with chairman Kerry Stokes, isn’t prepared to dust off the M&A files until Prime sorts out its share register. Peter RaeAnd so it is, again, with Prime understood to have canvassed the prospect of one of the longest mooted deals in Australian media in recent weeks; a combination with big brother Seven West Media.Sources said Prime, in full realisation it had only 18 months left on its deal to carry Seven West content, had gone to its affiliate partner, spruiking its relatively healthy balance sheet and franking credit balance and talking about what the combined business could look like.But, don’t start getting ready for a deal. It is understood Seven West, while keen to come together with Prime, isn’t prepared to dust off the M&A files until Prime sorts out its share register.The wounds from 2019’s mooted merger, where Prime shareholders voted overwhelmingly to block a merger with Seven West, are still fresh. In fact, Seven can probably see how such a deal would be even harder, after media proprietor and dissenting Prime shareholder Antony Catalano increased his stake to nearly 20 per cent. Without the Cat’s seal of approval, there is no deal.