By Robb M. Stewart
MELBOURNE, Australia--Australian broadcaster Foxtel may be
poised to buy a stake in Ten Network Holdings Ltd. (TEN.AU), one of
the country's top free-to-air broadcasters.
Ten said in a statement Monday that as part of an ongoing
strategic review it was in discussions with Foxtel about the terms
on which it might potentially become an investor.
Foxtel is equally owned by telecommunications company Telstra
Corp. (TLS.AU) and News Corp. (NWS), which also owns Dow Jones
& Co., the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones
Newswires.
The Australian Financial Review earlier Monday reported that
Foxtel was close to agreeing a deal to take a 14.9% stake in Ten,
injecting about 85 million Australian dollars (US$66.47 million) at
18 cents a share.
Ten, whose shows include the Australian versions of "MasterChef"
and "The Bachelor," said that discussions with Foxtel were one
component of its strategic review. It disclosed no further details
on the talks.
The company, which is due to release its first-half results on
Thursday, in early December said that strategic adviser Citigroup
was fielding nonbinding proposals from a number of unnamed parties
interesting in buying control of Ten or refinancing its debt.
Citigroup was appointed by the company in November after months of
speculation that Ten was a takeover target.
Ten counts a number of wealthy investors among its shareholders,
including mining-industry billionaire Gina Rinehart, gambling
tycoon James Packer and media-industry personalities Lachlan
Murdoch and Bruce Gordon.
Like its free-to-air peers, Ten has struggled with weak
advertising markets lately but continues to attract large numbers
of viewers each day.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires