SYDNEY, Sunday: Bauer Media Australia has reportedly hired global advisory firm EY to review its business as future on the subcontinent remains uncertain following the shock closure of its NZ arm on Thursday.
EY has also been appointed to work alongside the wreckage of Bauer NZ to facilitate an orderly wind-down of the business.
And NZ PM Jacinda Ardern has confirmed (to NewstalkZB’s Mike Hosking) that Bauer, incredibly, offered the Government the sale of the NZ arm of the company for $1.
Sydney-based Bauer ANZ ceo Brendon Hill did not refer at all to NZ when he told reporters on Friday: “We understand the New Zealand Government’s decision to move to Covid-19 Level 4, but it has put our business in an untenable position.
“Publishing in New Zealand is very dependent on advertising revenue and it is highly unlikely that demand will ever return to pre-crisis levels.”
“I would like to recognise the impact that this decision will have on our suppliers, customers and the wider publishing industry. This is a very difficult time for the entire media industry.”
“The Bauer company has yet to make further comment on its wind-down plans in NZ – and no comment at all in Australia.”
Hill’s hollow words, however, didn’t sit well with Jacinda Arden who said Bauer was using coronavirus as a cover for a shutdown already planned.
“Within a couple of days of the New Zealand government announcing the lockdown, Bauer contacted the minister and told him they weren’t interested in subsidies,” Ardern said.
“They didn’t enter a conversation about becoming an essential service, they didn’t seek to continue to operate in lockdown and they didn’t want to use the government support to keep their doors open, so I reject any suggestion that Covid-19 and our response to it has caused them to shut their printing press but I deeply regret that they have. In my view, they should have taken it up and they should have kept going.”
Now, as reported in The Australian, Bauer has brought EY on board locally to determine the future of the business, and said Bauer “may be considering exiting the market in Australia too”.
Bauer’s Aussie titles reflect the broad sweep of its lost NZ titles. The portfolio includes Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, TV Week, Elle, Bazaar, Australian House & Garden, Belle, The Block, Wheels, 4X4, Farms & Farm Machinery, and Mother & Baby.
The Bauer company has yet to make further comment on its wind-down plans in NZ – and no comment at all in Australia (check out their website, below).
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