Private equity firm TPG has raised its takeover bid for Fairfax Media to $1.20 a share and is now proposing to buy out the entire media company.
Earlier this month, the US-based investment firm offered 95c per share, equivalent to almost $2.5 billion, in a ‘cherry-picking’ deal for Fairfax’s prime asset Domain and the company’s best known mastheads – The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
The new offer values Fairfax around $2.75 billion and includes Australian Community Media, New Zealand Media, shareholdings in Macquarie Media and Stan.
Fairfax shares jumped by as much as 8.4 per cent as the Fairfax board considers the revised deal.
The proposal is subject to a number of conditions, including foreign investment approval from Australia and New Zealand, and Fairfax shareholder approval.
A TPG spokesman declined to comment.