WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon has accumulated a small stake in Fairfax Media after holding preliminary talks with the newspaper and digital radio company about combining some regional newsroom functions.
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It is understood the Bermuda-based billionaire has bought more than 5 million Fairfax shares – well below 1 per cent of the company – but is considering raising his stake in the coming months.
The share purchase occurred after WIN and Fairfax (publisher of the Illawarra Mercury) held preliminary, informal discussions about sharing some resources in regional areas. It is believed these talks never progressed. Mr Gordon holds one of the more diverse media portfolios in Australia. Aside from WIN, which is the nation's largest regional commercial free-to-air broadcaster, he is the largest shareholder of the embattled Ten Network Holdings with a 14.9 per cent stake and also a minority shareholder in rival regional broadcaster Prime Media with a 2.4 per cent stake.
Mr Gordon sold WIN's Adelaide and Perth stations to Nine Entertainment Co in 2013 for around $400 million.
With cash in the bank and low debt levels, the former Paramount executive will play a critical role in any further consolidation of the Australian media landscape.
Ten – rather than Fairfax or Prime – is likely to be his main priority. Mr Gordon is prevented from owning more than 15 per cent of the third-ranked metropolitan network by media laws. However, it seems likely he would consider increasing his stake if regulations were changed.
Ten is the subject of interest from US media giants Time Warner as well as Discovery Communications, which has teamed up with Australian pay-TV monopoly Foxtel (which is owned by Telstra and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation). But Mr Gordon says he will not sell his stake in Ten, which would make it impossible for any of the US media giants circling the embattled the broadcaster to obtain complete control.
"Our shares will not be on the market at any price," he said last week. "I passionately believe that Ten should still stay as an Australian-owned operation and it should not be sold to any of these giant US pay TV set-up."
His refusal to sell suggests a split between the four high-profile shareholders who own about 40 per cent of the stock: Mr Gordon, Crown Entertainment chairman James Packer, News Corporation co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch and mining magnate Gina Rinehart.
