Southern Cross Media Group has confirmed that chairman Rob Murray has retired as a director. The board has appointed Heith Mackay-Cruise as Murray’s successor.
This brings forward Murray’s previously announced intention to retire as a director at SCA’s 2024 Annual General Meeting.
In a notice lodged with the ASX, the Board also made it clear that it will not appoint any new directors this financial year or while SCA continues to engage with ARN and Anchorage Capital’s proposal to acquire SCA.
Murray joined SCA as an independent non-executive director in September 2014 and was appointed as chair in August 2020.
He said that by bringing forward his retirement, he was “hopeful this will help avoid the distraction and unnecessary time, cost, and resources that would be required by the recent call by one of our shareholders for an extraordinary general meeting.
“I wish SCA, the board and the broader SCA team all the best for the future.”
SCA’s new chair, Mackay-Cruise, thanked Murray for his time with the company, saying: “Becoming chair in the middle of the lockdowns and other challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rob led a process to refresh the Board and plan for future succession.
“Most recently, Rob’s leadership has been critical to the Board’s securing of a significant increase in the consideration for SCA shareholders under the Consortium’s Revised Indicative Proposal. As announced to ASX on 18 March 2024, the Board unanimously determined to re-engage with the Consortium based on this higher value.”
The new chairman, Mackay-Cruise was an existing board member. He has been on the board for three and a half years and in a long corporate career he currently sits on three other boards of tech companies – Orro Group, Straker, and Codan. He is also on the board of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
From 1999, Mackay-Cruise spent over eight years with ACP Magazines. Half his time at ACP was as group marketing and circulation director. The other half saw him running the New Zealand business as NZ chief executive officer.
The news of Murray’s departure drops on the same day that another board member exits – director is Glen Boreham who announced earlier this month his intention to depart on March 27.
Earlier in March – nearly five months since the proposal was first tabled – the SCA board finally responded to the takeover proposal from ARN and Anchorage Capital.
The message from the board was that the offer was not enough and it wanted a revised proposal.
See Also: Triple M takeover: SCA finally says ‘no’ to ARN/Anchorage and open to revised proposal
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Top Image: Rob Murray