Coal baron Brian Flannery moves into Prime positionMadeleine...

Coal baron Brian Flannery moves into Prime position

Madeleine Heffernan
Published: April 28, 2014 - 3:00AM

White Energy chief executive Brian Flannery, the Labor Party's Queensland investment arm and the AFL players' union are among key investors in regional television broadcaster Prime Media, it can be revealed.

A Fairfax Media review of Prime Media's share register provides the first look at the company's owners since its cornerstone investor, the healthcare billionaire Paul Ramsay, sold his 30 per cent stake in February for just under $100 million.

Mr Ramsay retired as Prime Media chairman in mid-April. Last week Mr Ramsay was admitted to hospital in Europe in a serious condition. A Ramsay Healthcare spokeswoman said there was no change to his condition over the weekend.

While there have been significant changes in Prime Media's large shareholders since its 2013 annual report, the share register shows no individual took advantage of Mr Ramsay's sale to build a foothold in the company.

Nonetheless, regional TV companies Prime, Southern Cross and WIN are expected to come into focus if the federal government loosens media ownership laws. Shares in Prime, the regional affiliate of ratings leader Channel Seven, are down 5.7 per cent this year.

The share register shows investors ranging from the University of Tasmania (278,000 shares) to the Queensland-owned fund manager and infrastructure company QIC (900,000), and JR Richards Waste Management Services (40,000).

Coal baron Mr Flannery was among those to have bought in recently, with 100,000 shares bought by the Flannery Foundation.

Mr Flannery was part of the so-called ''Magnificent Seven'' that stood to gain $60 million each if their

private coal company, Cascade Coal, was bought by White Energy. The family of corrupt Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid had a secret 25 per cent stake in Cascade Coal.

Mr Flannery was cleared of impropriety by Independent Commission against Corruption Commissioner David Ipp but criminal charges were recommended against White Energy chairman Travers Duncan, with whom Mr Flannery sold Felix Resources for $3 billion in 2009.

One of Australia's biggest TV investors, Bruce Gordon, is now the biggest individual shareholder in Prime Media, with a 2.4 per cent stake. Mr Gordon's 8.8 million shares, through his private investment vehicle Birketu plus WIN subsidiaries, is valued at $8.7 million.

Mr Gordon owns WIN and is a significant investor in struggling commercial broadcaster Ten Network. Last year he agreed, with James Packer and Lachlan Murdoch, to guarantee Ten's $200 million loan from CBA.

The next biggest individual shareholder in Prime Media is George Mooratoff, a long-time investor and former director of CBS International television Australia.

Michael Siddle, who is deputy chairman of both Prime Media and Ramsay Health Care, has 983,572 shares in a family account. It could not be confirmed when Mr Siddle and Peter Evans, who is also a director at Ramsay Health Care, will stand down from the Prime Media board as foreshadowed in February.

Network Investment Holdings, owned by Kerry Stokes' Seven Network, has not increased its stake in Prime Media since Mr Ramsay's sale, holding about 11.4 per cent.

The AFL Players Association has 44,510 shares and Brisbane-based ALP investment vehicle Labor Holdings holds 35,370 shares from an investment dating back to 1997.

At 14 per cent, fund manager Perpetual has replaced Mr Ramsay to become Prime's biggest shareholder. Other significant shareholders are fund managers Perennial and AMP, according to Bloomberg, plus superannuation company AustralianSuper.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/coal-baron-brian-flannery-moves-into-prime-position-20140427-37c30.html