Nine Radio sold for cut-price $56m to pub tycoon Arthur Laundy as it spends $850m on outdoor ad company QMS

Nine Entertainment has taken a loss by selling its radio network to billionaire pub baron Arthur Laundy as the media company takes a big punt on outdoor advertising.

Mr Laundy’s Laundy Family Office will pay $56 million for the network, which includes Melbourne’s top-rating talk station 3AW, Sydney’s 2GB and a stable of presenters, including Ben Fordham and Tom Elliott.

Mr Laundy has an estimated net worth of $1.75 billion and owns more than 40 pubs in NSW.

He is the father of former Liberal MP Craig Laundy, who was a junior minister in Malcolm Turnbull’s government, and Stu Laundy, a former contestant on Network 10’s dating show The Bachelorette.

The sale price is far less than the $275m the network was worth just seven years ago when Nine took full control of what was then known as Macquarie Media.

At the time, Macquarie’s Sydney stars included Alan Jones — currently before the courts charged with multiple counts of indecent assault — and Ray Hadley, who retired last year.

Long-time 3AW breakfast host Neil Mitchell, who dominated the ratings in Melbourne, also retired in 2023.

The exit of stars added extra pressure on top of the continued decline of the entire talk radio industry as digital media grabbed younger audiences and left broadcasters competing for a shrinking band of baby boomer listeners.

At the same time as selling the radio stations, Nine on Friday splashed $850m buying outdoor ad company QMS from private equity group Quadrant.

It also sold its regional TV station, NBN, to affiliate WIN, which already rebroadcasts Nine throughout much of Australia, for $14.8m.

Nine chief executive Matt Stanton told the stock exchange the shake-up would “create a more efficient, higher-growth, and digitally powered Nine Group for our consumers, advertisers, shareholders and people”.

Veteran media analyst Peter Cox said this contradicted the positive narrative about radio put out by Nine’s competitor, the newly merged Seven West Media and Southern Cross Austereo.

“Southern Cross and Seven are saying radio is the future,” he told the ABC.

“But here’s Nine saying that ‘No, we don’t think that’s the future, it’s billboards by the side of the road’.

Nine is expected to reap about $50m in cash from the sale after transaction costs and debt adjustments are made.

This will be booked as a gain of about $10m because last year the company dramatically wrote down the value of the network in its accounts.

It also stands to book a tax benefit of about $50m because for tax purposes it is making a loss compared to the original purchase price.

The sale of the radio network will be greeted with relief by many inside Nine’s publishing division, which runs metro mastheads The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald as well as The Australian Financial Review.

Some within the relatively buttoned-up newspaper division have been unhappy to be sharing ownership with the more rambunctious right-wingers at the radio network.

However, Nine told the ASX it would continue to collaborate with the radio stations under the Laundy group’s ownership.

“Laundy is expected to remain a long-term partner of Nine, with plans to utilise Nine News journalists on radio, showcase Stan Sport through Laundy venues, provide promotion and advertising sales collaboration, as well as increased advertising spend by Laundy on Nine properties,” the company said.