News Corp Australia’s chief financial officer Michael Ford has announced Robert Ure (pictured) as director of strategy and M&A commencing Monday, 16 November 2020, in a move to bolster the team’s strategic capability.
Ford said Ure and his team will be responsible for strategic planning and merger and acquisition activity across News Corp Australia. The role will work closely with the executive team to guide, influence and deliver key outcomes for News’ growth strategy.
“Rob’s skills and diverse industry experience will be invaluable to News as we progress our digital strategy and identify growth opportunities,” Ford said.
“Rob will play a key role in our growth agenda, bringing together his deep strategy and M&A experience across large corporates and investment banks domestically, in the US and Asia.”
Ure said: “News Corp Australia is clearly building a world-class digital business based on a proud legacy of providing trusted news and information. It’s also a company that’s always excelled at merger and acquisition activity. I’m very excited to be joining the News team at this important time in the company’s evolution.”
Ure was most recently general manager of business development at Wesfarmers where his focus was on acquisition activity and significant strategic digital projects, having honed his skills during a long tenure as an investment banker at Macquarie Capital, where he specialised in gaming.
Before Wesfarmers, Ure was group general manager M&A and corporate development with Coca-Cola Amatil for four-and-a-half years, where in addition to his core M&A and corporate development remit, Ure identified, assessed and executed select strategic and operational projects.