Both companies had previously set a 60-day period from Nov. 30 for talks on a possible merger. “After a series of discussions, NST and Utusan were not able to reach a scheme of merger that would be beneficial to both parties and its stakeholders,” NSTP said in a statement. “As such, the company wishes to announce that the proposed merger between NST and Utusan is now aborted.”
The proposed merger has not been smooth from the beginning with much opposition surfaced and the fate of the proposed merger appeared to be hanging as reported by Star Publications (Malaysia) Berhad (STAR : stock-code 6084) here. Sources said several party supreme council members voiced their concern over the deal and also the long connection between the party and Utusan Malaysia. Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is also the prime minister of Malaysia had sent the merger deal back to the drawing board in Dec-2006. The two publishers have slightly different editorial viewpoints – Utusan is more closely aligned with a Malay and Islamic agenda than the more mainstream NSTP.
NSTP, which publishes the top-selling Malay daily Harian Metro, has a market value of about 543 million ringgit ($155 million), more than three times the size of Utusan. NSTP also owns broadsheet daily Berita Harian and English-language daily the New Straits Times. The two publishers wanted to put their Malay dailies under one roof to cut costs and attract more advertisers.
I’m pretty sure the party who proposed this merger has already benefited from the earlier proposed merger when the stock rises.
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January 18th, 2007 by financetwitter
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