***rumour** pbl to buy tah, page-14

Would require $10B over and above the current $8.3B MC. Too big a debt burden for PBL to take on. They would have to unload much more than the Nine Network in order to finance a bid.

With the loss (today) of the AFL Rights, Nine is potentially worth a lot less than the mooted $10B (rejected) offer taken to Telstra back in 2002. Nine is also under siege for the first time in 10+ years in terms of winning the ratings, retaining audience share, and stemming the growing tide of PayTV.

Crown is also far too valuable a proposition for PBL which would otherwise be risked if TAH was taken on.

Only alternative would be for a joint Unitab /PBL offer with wagering going to UniTab, and gaming to PBL. That might be a possibility, but even then the pockets would still need to be very deep. Probably a good reason then to call in Stephen Wynn.