The Brag Media, VMD out of Junkee race
The clock is ticking for Jacanda Capital to find a buyer for oOh!Media’s Junkee, and it’s looking like slim pickings.
While Street Talk understands there were at least a few bids made for the business, it seems like there’s a gap between seller and buyer price expectations as it gets to the pointy end of the process.
oOh!Media CEO Cathy O’Connor wants to find a buyer for Junkee by the end of 2021.
Two of the most obvious contenders for the company, Val Morgan Digital and The Brag Media, are understood to have dropped out of the race.
That leaves t he question - who else is interested?
Jason Lavigne’s Mamamia is still being talked about as one possibility, but there’s yet to be any firm signs of their interest, and typically Mamamia targets a female audience.
Then there’s the bigger players, but it’s tough to find a logical pairing.
Network Ten closed down its digital play 10 Daily in 2020, Seven West is understood to not be interested and Nine already has Pedestrian.TV.
Of the radio networks, Southern Cross Austereo is not expected to be in the mix. It could find a home at NOVA Entertainment, but pairing Junkee with a Lachlan Murdoch-connected news outlet seems like a tough sell. Here, There and Everywhere said it was taking a look at the business early on, but is also understood to no longer be interested.
There has been talk among media types that the process was down to its final two bidders, but who those bidders are is the million dollar question.
To lure a former bidder back to the party, it’s likely oOh! would need to compromise on price. Whether it’s willing to do that, depends on how much interest there really is, and how much oOh! want to move Junkee on.
But since it was keen to have the sale wrapped up this year, the clock is ticking for its bankers to find a buyer.
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