Gina Rinehart emerges as money behind Bruce McWilliam’s stake in Seven owner

Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has emerged as the money behind former Kerry Stokes ally Bruce McWilliam’s near-10 per cent stake in Southern Cross Media, the owner of Network Seven and Triple M.

Rinehart, a mining magnate who has previously held interests in Network 10 and Fairfax Media, has now emerged as a key player in the biggest media company in Perth, which also publishes The West Australian.

Documents filed with the ASX on Wednesday morning showed that McWilliam’s fast-growing stake in the newly merged media company has been mostly financed by a company associated with Rinehart and her company Hancock Prospecting.

The news sparked speculation the pair might be planning an eventual takeover of the media company currently valued at $278 million. Rinehart has long-held ambitions of owning and controlling Australian media assets. She has also donated to right-wing lobby group Advance Australia, and more recently Rinehart gave a private plane to Pauline Hanson-led One Nation.

Last week, ASX disclosures showed that McWilliam had built a near-10 per cent stake in Southern Cross Media, which is expected to change its name in due course, realigning its power base to Seven.

But while McWilliam has amassed his own fortune over the course of a long career working in commercial media for some of the world’s richest proprietors, 94 per cent of his near-47 million shares in the company have been paid for by Rinehart.

Rinehart is therefore considered a substantial shareholder, as she holds an interest in his shares and holds security over them. She can take control over the shares if their agreement, signed in April, falls apart.

Speculation has been mounting over McWilliam’s strategy behind his growing stake in the company, and whether he is working in collaboration with billionaire Kerry Stokes, who was Seven’s controlling shareholder until January when it was bought by Southern Cross. Stokes retains a 20 per cent stake in the company.

But sources told this masthead last week Stokes and McWilliam were not working together, with another Perth-based billionaire backing McWilliam’s share purchases.

Rinehart previously held a 15 per cent stake in Fairfax Media, the publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review before its merger with Nine. She sold her shares in 2015 after failing to gain three seats on the board and control over editorial output.

She has also previously been a significant shareholder in Network Ten, and to this day continues to have a close relationship with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Sky News Australia as a major advertiser and friend of several on-air hosts. Rinehart also holds shares in Fox News’ owner Fox Corporation in the United States.

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