HOT STOCK TIP!

Got any spare cash down the back of the couch for some solid stocks? CanWest are doing a float, which means that as an owner, essentially NZ CEO Brent Impey will be directly answerable to you.

Personally, I can’t think of anyone better to have in charge of making me money. I’ll say one thing for Brent – he’s always got the shareholders’ best interests at heart. He is the very epitome of the modern broadcasting businessman.

Of course, I’d be extraordinarily surprised if Brent didn’t invest in this himself. He knows what he’s capable of and he’s aware of his abilities.

PRESS RELEASE – Wednesday 19 May 2004

CANWEST MEDIAWORKS CONFIRMS

INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING (IPO) PLANS

CanWest MediaWorks (NZ) Limited’s Chairman, Tom Strike, today confirmed the Company’s plans to offer for sale to the public 68 million ordinary fully-paid shares.

The offer is expected to raise up to NZ$119 million in new capital for CanWest MediaWorksNZ, all of which will be used to fund in part its acquisition of the CanWest group’s New Zealand media operations. These include New Zealand’s largest radio group, which manages 6 national radio brands – The Edge, Channel Z, The Rock, More FM, Radio Pacific and Solid Gold – and 22 regional radio stations, as well as TV3 and C4 – the newly launched free-to-air music channel.

Following completion of the offer, the CanWest group will be the majority shareholder in CanWest MediaWorksNZ, holding approximately 70% of its shares, with the balance of the shares owned by public market investors. Pursuant to an over-allotment option, an additional 13.6 million shares may be made available for sale to the public by the CanWest group, which if fully exercised would reduce its ownership of the Company to approximately 64%. Through this over-allotment option the offer size may be increased by up to NZ$23.8 million, raising the total offer size to up to NZ$142.8 million.

The offer is expected to open on or about 9 June and close on or about 29 June. The offer will comprise a retail offer for general investors, employees and brokers, and an institutional offer. The retail price will be determined by way of an institutional bookbuild.

Goldman Sachs JBWere has been appointed as lead manager of the offer.

This media release contains comments or forward-looking statements that are based largely upon the Company’s current expectations and are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties. These factors could cause actual future performance to vary materially from current expectations. CanWest MediaworksNZ may not update or revise any forward- looking statements or comments, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: the NZRADIO email discussion group.

Disclaimer: Andrew Dubber knows almost nothing about the sharemarket. This post is here solely as observation about the activities of the media industries in New Zealand. Reading this as business or investment advice is just asking for trouble.