According to The Australian, Nine Entertainment hopes to raise between A$800 million and A$1.2 billion when it floats on the Australian Securities Exchange by the end of the year.
The listing could see Nine’s owners, hedge funds Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital Group, sell down as much as half their stakes a year after the approval by the federal court of a A$3.4bn recapitalisation of the company, added the report.
The Australian added that the Nine float is aimed at replacing the growing debt incurred from the purchase of WIN’s Adelaide and Perth stations, which currently stands at $900m and is expected to exceed $1bn once the purchase of WIN Corporation’s Perth TV is approved.
However, depending on the market mood at the time of the raising, it could be used by debt holders Apollo and Oaktree as a chance to pay down debt to about $500m, or roughly 2.5 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation — in line with Kerry Stokes’s ASX-listed Seven West Media.