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“The board is considering these unsolicited approaches and will keep the market updated in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations should material terms be finalised,” CEO Tommy Logtenberg said.

“The company has not made any decision on the capital markets business and there is no certainty that any transaction will result, or if so on what terms, following these approaches.”

According to independent Similarweb data in January, HotCopper has 7.5 million visitors monthly, with more visitors returning more often – and for longer – than competitors including Market Index, Stockhead, Proactive Investors, and Livewire Markets.

GUM last traded at 9cps at midday on Friday.

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Last September, Nine announced – somewhat out of the blue – CEO Mike Sneesby was walking out the door as rumours swirled some at Nine found him an indecisive leader.

(He was, however, credited with building up Australian Netflix competitor, Stan.)

This came at around the same time Peter Costello – then Chair and well-known former Australian politician – also followed the exit signs after he assaulted a journalist from The Australian in an airport in a high-profile incident.

This all followed the departure of Darren Wick in March 2024 after allegations of sexual misconduct at work, which The Sydney Morning Herald described as having been an “open secret” at the company.

(That same writeup also noted Stanton had also a medical episode in the COVID-19 years that threatened to take his life.)

To media watchers this is all fairly well-established lore – and it’s probably not surprising either that Stanton now finds himself fully appointed in the chief’s seat.

If shareholders find that something to balk about, it wasn’t obvious – shares dipped around -0.9% in mid-arvo trades on Thursday, hardly enough to point towards any significant negative response.

Stanton has previous experience with formerly named Bauer Media, as well as a stint as Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) at Woolworths (ASX:WOW).

Perhaps worth noting is Stanton was selected for the role even after a global search.

“The Nine Board confirmed Mr Stanton’s appointment after a comprehensive international search process involving a high-calibre field of candidates,” NEC wrote on Thursday.

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“Following a thorough and competitive recruitment process, Matt was clearly the best credentialled leader to maintain the momentum on our strategic and cultural transformation. He has done an outstanding job as Acting CEO,” current NEC Chair Catherine West elaborated.

West stepped in after Costello’s unfortunate arrivals terminal biffo.

NEC last traded at $1.61/sh.

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That said, the downward move is on less than $54,000 worth of trades according to a third party service porting Morningstar data.

SXL’s basket of struggling TV assets has been the subject of at least one failed buyout offer in the past. Everybody wants its radio stations, but not so much the TV stations. Age of the smartphone, after all.

But now it’s found a buyer. Enter privately held Australian Digital Holdings (ADH), an ‘online TV’ streaming news channel based in Sydney and recently courting US-based right wing conservative commentators.

It goes without saying Southern Cross is probably just happy somebody has taken the TV stations off it hands – even if that needs to be a company based in the suburb of Chippendale importing bible-clutching yank content to an Australian audience on the other side of the world.

SXL will walk away with $6.35M in total value from the deal, but it only gets around $3.75M in cash. The remainder will be provided by ADH in the form of ‘transactional service arrangements.’

What arrangements ADH could offer SXL aren’t exactly obvious. The TV assets it sold were in Tasmania, Spencer Gulf, Darwin, Mt Isa, and remote Australian regions. Perhaps not a bad basket of demographics at which to broadcast American right wing ephemera.

SXL last traded at 64cps.

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The beleaguered Australian media titan said this reflected both pressures on economic and advertising markets more generally – but also the loss of a commercial deal with Meta and its associated revenues.

Profit after taxes and minorities also registered a fall, set at $95M for the six months to December 2024; down from $134M in the prior corresponding period.

In its report, Nine spruiked the cultural transformation which had been rolled out since a third-party review published in October showed concerning levels of inappropriate behaviours, and made 22 recommendations for change.

This was followed less than two months later by an Action Plan that was endorsed by the company board to change its culture.

“We have worked together over the past six months to build a roadmap for strategic and cultural transformation,” Acting CEO Matt Stanton said, declaring the issue has been an important focal point for Nine.

“I am proud of the way our people have responded, with strong engagement and an overwhelming spirit of constructive optimism.

“I am confident that the changes we have made and continue to implement will ensureNine remains an integral player at the forefront of media in Australia.”

Nine shares were higher on Tuesday, and at 1:28pm they were trading at $1.69 – a rise of 3.53% since the market opened.

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That makes sense. Domain makes money off advertising property ads, and the best way to make people want property is to tell them how they can get it.

Or even better, to make them worry about not having it.

Just think of every article you’ve ever seen on a Nine masthead – maybe this will only be relevant for millennial readers – saying something like, “This couple just bought a property at 24 – here’s how they did it.”

Or articles from Murdoch-backed competitor REA Group (ASX:REA) which typically look like “Tips from a young couple who bought in Melbourne before age 25.”

These articles are all ads.

They’re ads quite good at making people worry about what they don’t have – wait, you mean you don’t own property at 25? – and I can personally report, reader, they are the source of stress for many without an ideological fortress.

Anyway, we could be seeing that kind of thing change. Or, we could be about to see a lot more of it.

Nine’s Domain has today soared 40% to $4.34/sh, which matches – goes beyond, actually – the offer price for Domain Nine has received from a company called CoStar, ultimately worth $2.7B (that deal puts Domain shares at $4.20; a 40%+ premium.)

Domain competes with REA Group – a far superior company with a $31.6B market cap – but today, Domain’s bid has seen REA shares tank -10% to just shy of $240/sh as investors wonder whether Domain could be a better bet.

Nine, just because it owns Domain, jumped 23% to $1.77/sh.

CoStar is understood to be a company good at doing one thing: picking up struggling companies, lowering customer prices, and injecting a lot of money into marketing and advertising.

(This is also what Temu does, and how it’s managed to become the predominant e-dollar store of the current moment.)

For now, Nine says it will consider the deal, but given the fact both Domain and its owner Nine have shot up today, it’s a pretty clear sign many would like the deal to go ahead.

NEC last traded at $1.77/sh.

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SWM’s group revenue for the period came in at $727 million, down 6% on H1 FY24, recording the same percentage loss in total TV advertising revenue, with a soft market and major sporting events to blame for the latter.

Mentioned in particular were major one-off sporting events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup – broadcast on Seven during the first half of FY24 – and the Olympic Games on Nine this half.

However, there was some good news, with Seven’s total TV audiences increasing by 1.5% with strong growth in broadcast video on demand – up 43%, offsetting a modest decline in linear broadcasting, which was down 1.8%.

Managing director and CEO Jeff Howard explained that TV advertising was a standout factor to watch in the results.

“Seven West Media’s H1 FY25 results reflect the ongoing soft total TV advertising market and the impact of major one-off sporting events,” he said.

“Mitigating the full impact of these revenue headwinds was an increase in our total TV revenue share to 41.5% (up 0.5 points) and the benefits of our year-on-year operating cost savings initiates.

“Seven’s total TV audiences are up 1.5% year on year, excluding one-off sporting events.

“Our content strategy successfully mitigated the Olympic Games’ impact in thefirst quarter and the launch of 7plus Sport commencing with the AFL Grand Final drovea step change in audiences as the first half progressed.”

SWM has been trading at 16.5 cents.

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Concrete Playground advises users on various events, experiences and trends in cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland, and Wellington. Vinyl sees its platform as complementing another branch of its business, youth publisher Brag Media, but bringing in a more diverse customer base.

Another key attraction is revenue, which in the past 12 months amounted to more than $4 million; this is expected to contribute a pro-forma EBITDA of $1.5 million after the deal, which will entail Vinyl taking on 100% of Concrete Playground’s issued capital for $3.5 million in cash and $1.5 million in shares.

As part of the acquisition, Concrete Playground CEO Rich Fogarty will leave the company to pursue other opportunities but will remain in place until the deal is completed to ensure a smooth transition.

Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons said he was looking forward to securing this prime acquisition.

“We are looking forward to working with Rich and the Concrete Playground team to complete this acquisition in early 2025,” he said.

“They’ve built a trusted platform that audiences genuinely love, and their approach to storytelling will be a natural fit with our broader media strategy.

“Operationally, this acquisition will be significant for Vinyl Group — it would not only elevate our capabilities but also fast-track our path to sustained profitability, allowing us to deliver even greater value to our shareholders and partners.”

Investors seemed impressed by the news, and at 12:48 AEDT, Vinyl was trading at 11.3 cents – a rise of 7.14% since the market opened.

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The company has entered a binding Share Sale Agreement (SSA) to take on Noodlecake from its parent company Zplay (HK) Technology Co. Ltd, with the acquisition reflecting a desire to move more strongly into North American gaming.

Last month, Streamplay appointed Silicon Valley tech advisor Paolo Privitera to its board of directors, further underscoring this direction.

Noodlecake is a valuable acquisition in terms of its own portfolio. It has more than 60 in-house and published games, and has achieved more than 270 million downloads since its establishment in 2011, in addition to forging partnerships with Apple, Google, Xbox,PlayStation, Nintendo, Steam, and other tier-one brands.

Its games include ‘Yes, Your Grace’ – which was voted Best Indie Game on GooglePlay for 2024 – the multiplayer ‘Golf Blitz’ and ‘Alto’s Odyssey,’ the latter receiving an Apple Design Award in 2018 for its artistry and gameplay.

In financial terms, the story is also strong: Noodlecake brings in around A$42 million through its main monetisation channels, with additional revenue from other sources. Its annual revenue was approximately A$7.3 million for the year ending December 31, 2023.

Streamplay shares spiked upwards on the news, and at 11:28 AEDT, they were trading at 1.6 cents – a rise of 45.45% since the market opened.

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The Melbourne-based Vinyl has bought up Serenade’s assets – including its UK subsidiary – through a Business Deed Sale which began with a $800,000 upfront scrip payment which is to be followed by a scrip earn-out of $1.5 million based on P&L targets.

Shareholders in Serenade received $800,000 worth of Vinyl shares (valued at $0.09739) under the agreement, and will receive a further $1,500,000 in shares if the combined business of Vinyl.com and Serenade hit a revenue target of $4,000,000 and EBIT of $500,000 in the 12 months following the deal’s completion.

The deal will bring Vinyl access to physical and digital collectibles related to more than 200 global artists, include the Gallagher brothers of Oasis, Muse, Sum 41, Twnety One Pilots and Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Serenade has also developed commercial partnerships with more than 100 record labels including Warner Music Group, Beggars Group, Concord, Glassnote, FUGA and PIAS.

Vinyl has also been drawn to Serenade’s strong performance with its NFC-enabled Smart Formats offering, which had recorded 56% month-on-month growth since launching in January 2024, with this including sales of more than 12,000 units in the first half of the year.

The agreement has also seen a number of central Serenade employees join Vinyl, including CEO Max Shand, who is working full-time with Vinyl to lead Serenade, and also help to rapidly accelerate the Vinyl.com business, expanding its product offerings into physical and digital collectables whilst launching into additional markets.

Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons said the acquisition was an important development for the company.

“Max Shand has built Serenade into a business with significant potential, and through our acquisition of the platform, we’ll put the resources into Serenade to allow it to reach that potential,” he said.

“Vinyl Group is, at its core, a tech business and this was a great opportunity to expandour tech offering. We look forward to welcoming Max and other key members of the Serenade team to Vinyl Group.”

Vinyl shares rose on the news, and at 14:35 AEST, they were trading at 10 cents – a rise of 3.09% since the market opened.

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Central to the deal is uWorkin’s back-end technology, which is set to help recruiters by enhancing the job listing and management process, while also helping job seekers at the other end, by making the application experience easier.

The partnership is a boon to Gumtree, given the importance of job advertising to its classifieds business.

MKT Group CEO and Gumtree Managing Director Tommy Logtenberg said the partnership with uWorkin will help build the Company’s customer base of recruiters and candidates across metropolitan and regional areas.

“We recognise that to grow market share we need to invest in systems that deliver the bestoutcomes for our customer base,” he said.

“Following the strong demand for better technology solutions in the recruitment space, Gumtree has decided to partner with uWorkin to improve and streamline the recruitment processes for its main clients.

“By streamlining the advertising, reply and vetting processes, recruiters will be better able tomeet their employment needs, effectively manage candidates and importantly better matchcandidates with jobs.

“We are confident that with the new technology and process improvements, Gumtree will see a major uplift in job listings, with the overall customer experience improving.”

The integration of uWorkin’s technology into Gumtree’s job advertising platform is set for completion by December 2024.

The Market Ltd has been trading at 15 cents.

While that could be a coincidence, it would theoretically make it harder to tell at first glance if the company’s share price was falling because of that CEO decision or the dividend, should it fall at all.

But there could be a reason to be strategic.

Nine Chair Peter Costello left the building only a few months back after he attacked a journalist in an airport. Or ‘bowled over,’ or ‘bumped into,’ depending on how you feel about journalists. At any rate, there was an interaction not defined by pleasantry between Costello and a journalist which for the latter included a demonstration of the laws of gravity.

Nine wrote on Thursday that the conclusion of the Paralympics was the catalyst to make the move towards a “strategic transformation” by transitioning Sneesby out the door.

(While the company’s bread and butter is winning the rights to broadcast such things, which it will until 2032, it’s not like Nine actually has anything to do with the Olympics.)

So who will step in? Nine’s CFO Matt Stanton will be in the mix while a replacement is found. Sneesby leaves the building on October 1 after more than 10 years of service.

“[Nine has] navigated significant change in the media landscape in Australia,” Sneesby said on Thursday.

“I am confident in the future of Nine and remain committed to ensuring a seamless handover to Matt.”

The company’s announcement also billed Sneesby with building up Stan off the ground – the Australian Netflix.

NEC last traded at $1.25.

The placement attracted both existing shareholders and new institutional investors, and IPH also announced a share purchase plan (SPP) to bring in an additional $25 million.

The placement saw around 17.7 million new fully paid ordinary shares in the company being allocated to institutional investors at $5.65 per New Share, with the settlement of these shares to be finalised by Tuesday August 27.

Meanwhile, shares under the SPP will be offered at $5.46 per share, with this being the Offer Price less the final FY24 dividend of $0.19. Eligible shareholders will be able to apply for up to $30,000 worth of these.

Managing Director and CEO Dr Andrew Blattman said he was pleased with the support shown by investors during the placement.

“We thank our existing shareholders for their ongoing support and are delighted by the strong demand from new and existing institutional investors for the Placement and theacquisition of Bereskin & Parr,” he said.

“There has been clear acknowledgement of the strategic benefits that Bereskin & Parr willbring to our existing position in the Canadian IP market and its alignment with our ambition to be the leading IP services group in secondary IP markets.”

IPH has been trading at $6.21.

Humanforce – which also offers workforce-related services through a SaaS platform – is an Accel-KKR portfolio company, and has entered into an agreement with Livehire for an all cash, on-market takeover bid, acquiring all of the latter’s ordinary shares priced at 4.5 cents each before the offer closes on September 30.

Humanforce in fact already has a 19.99% stake in Livehire, holding 73,882,619 of its shares.

In its report to the market, Livehire said its board had embarked on search for a strategic new investor several months ago, with this leading to the Bid Implementation Agreement (BIA) with Humanforce.

Chair Andrew Rutherford said that reaching an agreement with Humanforce was a pleasing end to this journey.

“Humanforce’s Offer provides certainty of value for LiveHire Shareholders and enables them to realise value for their investment at a significant premium to LiveHire’s recent trading price,” he said.

The Offer Price of $0.045 (4.5 cents) was reported to be an 87.5% premium to the undisturbed closing share price of $0.024 on the last day of trading prior to this announcement (August 13), as well as a 75.8% premium to undisturbed 30-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of $0.0261.

At 12:13 AEST, Livehire’s share price was 2.2 cents, a rise of 91.67% since the market opened.

According to the company’s 12-month financial report released today, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) were down 33% – to $187 million – in the 2024 fiscal year compared to the previous year.

There were also falls in group revenue – which was 5% lower in the 2024 fiscal year compared to the previous one, at $1,415 million – in addition to an 8.2% drop in the total TV market for the year.

The latter however, reflected a sharper downturn in the first half of the fiscal year – where the TV market slumped by 9.1% – which moderated in the 7.2% in the second half.

Despite this, Seven West did report a growth in total TV revenue by 40.2% across the year, with total linear audiences growing slightly by 0.5%.

SWM Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Howard pointed to a variety of factors explaining the result.

“FY24 is a tough result for SWM in a challenging market. While growth in audience and revenue share partially offset the impact of the weak market, cost growth of 2% contributed to our EBITDA decline of 33%, reflecting the operating leverage in our business,” he said.

“Following delivery of $25 million of cost out initiatives in 2H, we have taken decisive action to materially increase the program into FY25 to give SWM a platform to drive improvedperformance.

“The continued weak economic environment contributed to an 8.2% decline in the totalTV advertising market on FY23. SWM was able to partially offset this decline by increasing our revenue share of the total TV market to 40.2%.”

With the 2% cost rise registering $1,228 million, Mr Howard said action would be taken on this issue.

“The Group was able to partially offset these investments through the implementation of $25 million of cost reductions in the 2H under the program announced at the FY23 AGM,” he said.

Seven West Media has been trading at 16 cents.

Hexima is seeking to take on 100% of Real Thing’s issued capital, and will issue shareholders in the latter an aggregate of 78,974,300 fully paid ordinary HXL shares and 8,721,504 options to acquire fully paid ordinary HXL shares (with a 20-cent exercise price and expiring on 5 March 2026).

The proposal also suggested a name change – to RealThing AI Ltd – and the appointment of directors Mr Silvio Salom (a current director of Real Thing) and intelligent agents pioneer Dr Michael Georgeff, with this decision being subject to the acquisition.

Hexima is also planning a capital raising of between $4 million and $7.5 million (before costs) via a public offer, and if the acquisition goes ahead – subject to shareholder approval – will issue two Real Thing shareholders an aggregate of up to 2.5 million shares (on a post-Consolidation basis) at a deemed price equal to the capital raising price to redeemconvertible notes previously issued by Real Thing with an aggregate face value of $500,000.

The market’s warm response to this news meant that at 13:44 AEDT, Hexima shares were trading at 2 cents, a rise of 66.66% since open.

On May 28, Soutern Cross said it would investigate whether taking on specific assets from Australian Community Media – comprising both print and digital news publications, as well as its agriculture division – would be in the company’s strategy.

However, today its board informed the market that the proposal would not be going ahead, saying in a statement that although ‘ACM’s digital and regional capabilities and content hold some attraction for SCA’, it had decided that ‘the relevant assets do not align with SCA’s audio-focused strategy and would not create value for SCA shareholders.’

However, the Southern Cross board wished Australian Community Media well in its digital transformation.

Southern Cross’ investments remain wholly focused on audio and television production and distribution, as it operates LiSTNR, the Hit and Triple M networks and regional television stations across Australia.

In radio, it owns more than 99 stations across FM, AM, and DAB+ under the Triple M and Hit network brands and provides national sales representation for 56 regional radio stations, while in television, it broadcasts over 96 free to air TV signals across regional Australia and represents or has a joint venture with 39 TV stations.

This includes broadcasting Network 10 programs in regional Queensland, southern NSW, and Victoria.

Australian Community Media – formerly known as Rural Press – runs more than 160 regional publications, including dailies the Bendigo Advertiser, the Illawarra Mercury, the Newcastle Herald and the Canberra Times.

Souther Cross has been trading at 61 cents.

Mr McCann – who will join the company on July 8 – also spent a decade as Group CEO of real estate group Lendlease Corporation Ltd, but it is his experience reshaping the corporate culture of Crown which has been underscored as relevant for Star.

Casino operator Star runs the Queen’s Wharf and Treasury Casino in Brisbane, as well as flagship property The Star in Sydney, and another of the same name on the Gold Coast, and has been subject to an ongoing inquiry into casino licences announced in February.

Last month, the company also fielded discussions about potential buyout, with shares rising 23 percent on this news, as Florida-based Hard Rock in particular expressed its interest.

Company chairman Anne Ward – who was appointed in April – said it was a positive step to have someone of Mr McCann’s experience and respect onboard.

“Given his time with Crown, and previous long-standing leadership at Lendlease, he has the right credentials to lead The Star’s remediation program,” she said.

“His track record reflects his capability to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders and lead meaningful transformational change and cultural renewal.

“This experience will be invaluable as we work towards rebuilding trust and expediting the sustainable transformation of The Star.”

Steve McCann said he was pleased with the appointment.

“I look forward to joining The Star at this critical time. I recognise that there are manycomplex issues and challenges for the company to address,” he said.

“I am committed to working with the Board and the various stakeholders to help drive change, restore confidence and achieve a sustainable resolution.”

Star has been trading up nearly 2 percent at 47 cents.

Under the agreements, bet365 will be licensed by BetMakers to offer fixed odds on thoroughbred  horse racing and distribute content to bet365 customers in New Jersey covering both thoroughbred and harness racing,

Bet365 will pay BetMakers a ‘market access fee’ based on a percentage of all fixed odds on bets placed in New Jersey on all racing events it offers to customers and a content fee based on a percentage of all fixed odds on bets placed in New Jersey and Colorado on applicable BetMakers’  Global Racing Network content.

The agreement makes provision for Bet365 to seek BetMakers’ approval to offer fixed odds wagering on third party global content to its New Jersey customers from many rights holders globally.

Bet365 will be required to pay BetMakers the market access fee in respect of online fixed odds wagering in New Jersey on all thoroughbred racing content, regardless of whether that content is provided by BetMakers or a third party.

Betmakers said the contract made Bet365 the first major operator to enter New Jersey’s fixed odds horse racing market, therefore potential revenues were yet to be established.

However, BetMakers expect these contracts to be significant to the growth of the company and says it may encourage other operators to enter into similar arrangements with BetMakers to further develop the sports betting market on horses within the United States.

BetMakers’ Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Jake Henson, commented on the agreements:

“We are very excited to be launching fixed odds betting on thoroughbreds in partnership with a leading  sportsbook in the US. This is a significant milestone for BetMakers and aligns with our strategy for fixed  odds betting on thoroughbreds in the US.

“The sports betting market in the US is starting to mature and the interest from operators in horse racing as  a product is expected to become even stronger. The high frequency of horse racing can deliver high  engagement and high margin returns to operators.

“We believe the opportunity for both BetMakers and the racing industry more broadly to be significant in the long term.”

Betmakers shares were down almost 5% midday priced at 10 cents.

The company’s impressive revenue boost was driven by the acquisition of Gumtree Group in 2022. 

Gumtree – a staple favourite marketplace of the Australian internet landscape – also includes Carsguide and Autotrader Australia. 

Together, the Group’s acquisition allowed for the repayment of $5M of a CBA loan.

“The importance of the Gumtree Group to The Market Limited is evident … both Carsguide and Autotrader have leading positions in the segments they operate in,” the company reported.

“In the last 6 months we have launched our first transactional offerings, with the roll-out of our Instant Cash Offer solution to sell cars privately being a highlight.”

The company did have to swallow $0.8M in legal costs related to a legal stoush stemming from the days of former management, and, a downgrade in the value of the Canadian business.

But The Market Limited has revenue growth tracking strongly, even ahead of the US Federal Reserve cuts tipped for H2CY24. 

The proposal is to acquire 100 per cent of SCA’s fully diluted share capital for 0.753 ARN ordinary shares and 29.6 cents in cash per share.

It’s important to note that this proposal is unsolicited, complex, and highly conditional. 

Given the nature of the offer, SCA recommends that shareholders refrain from taking any immediate action in response to the indicative proposal from ARN and ACP.

The indicative proposal is subject to several significant conditions, including unanimous recommendation from the SCA Board thorough due diligence a receiving necessary approvals from shareholders.

The deal also requires regulatory approvals from both the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

To assist in evaluating the proposal, SCA has appointed Grant Samuel as its financial adviser and Corrs Chambers Westgarth as its legal adviser. 

SXL shares were up 17.1 per cent, trading at 85.5 cents at 11:28 am AEDT, while A1N shares were down almost five per cent, trading at 81.3 cents at the same time.