The chairman and chief executive of the Australian arm of Independent News and Media (INM) have been ousted in the latest development at the Irish publishing group since telecoms billionaire Denis O'Brien seized control.
The resignation of APN News and Media chief executive Brett Chenoweth comes after the board of INM said it had "lost confidence" in his ability to run the firm. Chairman Peter Hunt and three independent directors – Melinda Conrad, John Harvey and John Maasland – also resigned after INM opposed a capital raising plan.
Last week, INM said APN had underperformed between 2010 and 2012 when its interim profits had halved. The resignations in Australia came shortly after INM announced it had agreed to sell its South African business for £146m to a consortium led by Iqbal Survé, one of Nelson Mandela's former doctors.
Detailed heads of terms have been agreed with the Sekunjalo Independent Media Consortium and will require the approval of INM shareholders and the Competition Commission in South Africa. Last year, Denis O'Brien seized control from the O'Reilly family, headed by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, ending four decades of their control at the Dublin HQ. In 2010, INM sold The Independent and The Independent on Sunday to the Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev for £1, in a deal in which INM agreed to pay Lebedev's Independent Print Limited £9.25m over the following 10 months.
