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MELBOURNE, Nov 1 Asia Pulse - APN News & Media Ltd (ASX:APN) hopes to one-day consume Australian newspaper giant Fairfax, but is currently focused on bedding down the A$1.2 billion (US$603.0 million) acquisition of New Zealand media group Wilson & Horton.
APN chief executive officer Vincent Crowley said the company had been interested in Fairfax - which publishes The Age, The Australian Financial Review, and The Sydney Morning Herald - since the early 1990s.
"Fairfax has always been of interest, but the primary focus is on Wilson & Horton," he said.
Irish media magnate Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media PLC was Wilson & Horton's biggest shareholder and is also the largest shareholder in APN.
APN would pay A$809 million (US$406.52 million) in convertible notes, shares and bank debt for Wilson & Horton, publisher of the New Zealand Herald.
Independent News would contribute A$427 million (US$214.57 million) by participating in a capital raising, while APN would raise A$125 million (US$62.81 million) through the issue of subordinated convertible notes to institutions.
Following the transaction, Independent News' stake in APN would increase to 45 per cent from its current 40 per cent holding.