Kiwi broadcaster calls in receiver

Executives at New Zealand’s MediaWorks insist the TV and radio broadcaster will continue to operate normally despite the appointment of a receiver by the company’s senior lenders.

“Our core business is strong and all divisions are trading well,” said MediaWorks MD Sussan Turner, whose stable includes TV channels TV3 and Four. The broadcaster has ouput deals with Fox and NBCUniversal and airs a local version of The X Factor.

“Under receivership it will be business as usual as we transition to a new company with an appropriate, right-sized capital structure,” Turner added.

Receiver KordaMentha has been hired to oversee the restructuring – a move that will result in the exit of Australian private equity group Ironbridge Capital, which bought a 70% stake from CanWest for NZ$741m (US$591m) in 2007.

MediaWorks’ outgoing chairman Brent Harman, a former head of TVNZ, said the restructuring will address the company’s “unsustainable pre-GFC [global financial crisis] capital structure.”

He said all trade and non-secured creditors had been paid in full and he expected all 1,400 staff would keep their jobs

The company’s assets will be transferred to a new entity dubbed Newco, formed by senior lenders including Westpac, Rabobank, TPG Capital, JP Morgan and US hedge fund Oaktree Capital, which is a major investor in Australia’s Nine Entertainment.