LACHLAN Murdoch, eldest son of News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, has scrapped plans to buy Consolidated Media Holdings for A$3.2 billion (US$2.9 billion).
The joint proposal with Consolidated Media Chairman James Packer was withdrawn due to a change in "overall transaction terms," Sydney-based Illyria, Lachlan Murdoch's investment arm, said yesterday.
The deal was thrown into jeopardy in March after Lachlan Murdoch's partner, San Francisco-based SPO Partners & Co, pulled out as investors fled credit markets amid climbing debt costs. The collapse of the deal comes after banks withdrew funding for the US$19.5 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications, the United States radio broadcaster, Bloomberg News said.
"Getting funding for anything in this market is difficult," said Michael Birch, of Wallace Funds Management in Sydney. "What this shows you is that banks aren't discriminating. They're just not participating at all."
Consolidated Media, whose holdings include stakes in Australia's largest pay-TV operator and biggest magazine publisher, would have given 36-year-old Lachlan Murdoch his first media executive role since quitting as News Corp's deputy chief operating officer in July 2005.
Consolidated Media shares rose two cents, or 0.5 percent, on April 4 before being halted pending an announcement.
The stock has dropped some 3.1 percent this year.