NZME shareholders will meet on June 3 to determine the leadership and make-up of a new-look board for the company that owns the Herald, Newstalk ZB, property brand OneRoof and a suite of regional news titles and entertainment radio stations.
Nominations for directorships closed on Monday. The names are likely to be released by NZME in an NZX announcement, possibly as early as Tuesday morning.
Most interest will be on the likely new chair, with The Australian reporting a former high-profile political figure was in line to be nominated for the role.
The website did not name the person but the Herald has independently verified it is not former National Party MPs Sir John Key, Simon Bridges or Simon Power, a former TVNZ chief executive.
Several sources confirmed on Monday evening it was Steven Joyce, who served just over three full terms for the National Party between 2008 and 2018, including stints as Minister of Finance and Minister for Communications and Information Technology.
Crucially, Joyce has an extensive private business and media sector background – at 21, after leaving university, he launched his own radio station, Energy FM, with a group of friends in New Plymouth.
He eventually built up RadioWorks to a network of 22 stations and 650 staff and sold the company to CanWest in 2000/2001. He retired as managing director of the company in 2001.
Joyce, who is a NZ Herald business columnist, is also a former chief executive of Jasons Travel Media.
Neither Joyce nor Chapman returned calls on Monday evening.
In an email response to questions, Grenon said he was certainly happy to forgo being chair “if the right other person is on the board”.
“What is important to me is that the three objectives I have outlined to date, being better disclosure, journalistic improvement and a ground-up review (particularly of publishing), are undertaken.
“It would not be appropriate to comment with respect to any specific alternative names for chair at this time.”
Who else could be on the new-look board?
Aside from Joyce and Grenon, it is understood two of Grenon’s three earlier nominees – Philip Crump and Des Gittings – will also be on the updated nomination form.
NZME’s annual shareholders meeting was originally due to be held on April 29, but was delayed until June 3 and nominations for board roles had been reopened, following Grenon’s bid for a cleanout.
Another NZME shareholder, Osmium Partners, earlier nominated two of its own names for directorships – Osmium president Adam Hoydysh and managing partner and chief investment officer John Lewis. It is unknown if their names will still be there once the fresh nominations are released.
Of the existing NZME board, Guy Horrocks is favoured to stay; less certain is whether both of the other two current directors, Sussan Turner and Carol Campbell, will be there.
Depending on how shareholders vote, a potential new-look board could therefore be: Joyce (chair), Grenon, Crump, Gittings, Horrocks, Turner/Campbell and one of the Osmium nominees.
‘I would say your sources are credible’
Troy Bowker, the executive chairman of Caniwi Capital – a NZME shareholder and Grenon backer – said he had also heard Joyce’s name linked to the role of chair but he had not seen verification of this.
“I would say your sources are credible. If it does transpire, he is a good choice … a man with vast experience in media and governance.”
He said he and other activist shareholders had set out with “a couple of objectives – one being unlocking value and creating more value for shareholders.
“I felt, and others felt, that the current board, led by Barbara Chapman, have been an impediment, have been there too long, haven’t made the changes required and haven’t delivered on shareholder value. I think it’s a good time for her to step down and for others to step down if they choose to as well, or if they are voted out.”
Bowker said it was time for a fresh set of eyes, ears and skills “to improve the financial performance”.
Bowker said the past two months had been a “messy” process.
“From our perspective, it’s probably good to see this come to some sort of conclusion, in a balanced and reasonable outcome, if it transpires that way.”
The Australian also reported on Monday that the Takeovers Panel was set to release a report on Tuesday into allegations some activist shareholders were co-operating to overthrow the company’s board.
NZME overhauls executive team
Meanwhile, NZME is overhauling its executive team, including the return of the company’s editor-in-chief to the top table and the resignation of its chief commercial officer.
The company’s executive team will increase from eight to 11 roles with editor-in-chief (chief content officer) Murray Kirkness and others joining the executive, effective immediately.
Kirkness’ elevation will ease concerns within some quarters of the NZME newsroom the top editorial role has not been part of the company’s top-level team for more than two years.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
