Independent Newspapers' associate, APN, is likely to exercise its right to buy out the 50 per cent of the Australian street advertising joint venture Adshel held by the British group More, if More ends up being taken over by the French advertising group Decaux.
More - formerly More O'Ferrall - is currently the focus of a bid battle between the American group Clear Channel Communications, which has made an agreed £441 million sterling bid, and Decaux, which has made a hostile bid of £475 million sterling.
More and APN are 50-50 owners of Adshel Street Furniture in Australia and APN has the option to buy out the More stake if More changes ownership. More has already invested £15 million in the Australian company but, as it is still loss-making, APN has the option to buy out More for just £4.2 million.
While APN - which is effectively controlled by Independent and an O'Reilly family trust and which is run by Dr Tony O'Reilly's son, Cameron - has given no formal indication on whether it favours Decaux or Clear Channel as a partner in Adshel, sources close to Independent have indicated that APN will definitely exercise its option to buy out the More stake in Adshel if More is taken over by Decaux.
If, however, Clear Channel's agreed bid for More is successful, APN is unlikely to buy out the More stake. APN and Clear Channel are already partners in various radio stations in Australia and New Zealand.
