O'Brien company raises NewsTalk stake to 53%

Mr Denis O'Brien's Radio 2000 company has raised its stake in Dublin talk station NewsTalk 106 from 42.5 per cent to 53 per cent.

FM104, which is the subject of a takeover offer from Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), decided not to participate in the latest fundraising and its stake has been diluted to 8.8 per cent, down from 15 per cent. Almost €900,000 was raised in the fundraising.

The station hoped to raise €1.2 million, but missed this target because FM104 and another shareholder Kalacastle Limited, which is linked to LMFM, declined to take part.

The new shareholdings are: Radio 2000 (53 per cent); Setanta Media (15 per cent); Hypertrust (16.2 per cent); FM104 (8.8 per cent) and Kalacastle (5.6 per cent). The remaining equity is held by smaller shareholders.

The station recently appointed Mr Dan Healy, former managing director of 98FM, as chief executive. Mr Healy has begun working in the station and is expected to instigate some changes as it tries to increase its listenership figures.

Mr O'Brien recently told the shareholders he was committed to the station and it had a bright future if it could improve listenership.

While Mr O'Brien has the financial resources to invest further money, other shareholders have been reluctant to participate in all the recent fundraisings.

In September the television and sports rights company Setanta refused to participate in a fundraising. It denied the decision was a vote of no confidence.

Mr Frank Cronin, a senior management figure at Setanta, said its decision not to invest did not reflect on NewsTalk.

"We are a television company and that is our priority. We remain upbeat about the station's prospects but our focus at present is on building our television interests."

If the buyout of FM104 goes ahead, SRH will inherit the 8.8 per cent shareholding in NewsTalk, although the chief executive of SRH, Mr Richard Findlay, told The Irish Times that the company would not necessarily be demanding a seat on the NewsTalk board.

NewsTalk is anxious to increase its presence in the city before four new radio licences for Dublin are issued by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.