No buyer found for O'Reilly's APN stake

Irish media tycoon Tony O'Reilly has failed to find a buyer for his media assets down under, including the New Zealand Herald newspaper, and is under pressure to offload assets closer to home to ease his empire's debt burden.

Independent News&Media (INM) confirmed it has given up a two-month attempt to sell its 39 per cent stake in APN News&Media, the owner of a number of Australasian radio stations and newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today.

In New Zealand APN publishes the Herald, 10 regional daily newspapers, the Listener and Women's Weekly, among others.

It also owns The Radio Network, which operates more than 120 radio stations around New Zealand.

Deteriorating credit markets had made it impossible for INM to find a buyer able to secure financing to pay an "acceptable" price, the company said.

A shrinking advertising market, debt levels, the credit crunch and plunging asset values killed off its chances of attracting a decent offer.

Mr O'Reilly had initially envisaged a price tag of $A4 ($NZ5) a share, compared with APN's latest share price of $A2.15.

Speculation about INM's ability to manage its stg1.4 ($NZ3.8) billion in borrowings have sent the company's share price down more than 60 per cent in the past two weeks, wiping out stg243 million in market value.

The company said it would look to sell "non-strategic core assets" and also "focus on eliminating any loss-making businesses", with the proceeds to be used to pay down debt.

Irish media reports at the weekend suggested it was hoping to raise at least stg100 million from selling assets including its British online bingo business, a stake in a German price-comparison venture and its London flagship newspaper, The Independent, which has lost advertising and circulation.