It’s driven by a Canadian billionaire with seemingly strong views on trans rights, vaccines and te Tiriti.
A couple of weeks ago NZME – a media company that counts the NZ Herald, Newstalk ZB, BusinessDesk, ZM and a host of radio and entertainment brands among its holdings – held its annual results presentation for shareholders. The hour was dominated by news that its property portal OneRoof might be separated for sale, along with the announcement of an online news channel built around Ryan Bridge. But there was a slide that seemed incongruous early on:
It called to mind the recent edict from the Washington Post’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, that the paper’s opinion department would focus on “personal liberties and free markets” – a seemingly anodyne statement that concealed a major reorientation. The “new tone for New Zealand” seemed bland, and the goals corporate platitudes – “helping New Zealand thrive”; “sharing stories of success”; “build positive momentum for all New Zealanders”. Yet they set alarm bells ringing among some observers.
Rightly so. Earlier this week news broke that James Grenon, a Canadian billionaire resident in New Zealand since 2012, had amassed a considerable shareholding in NZME. In a filing to markets operator NZX he noted “there is no current intention to make a takeover bid”, a position he maintains now. Yet on some level that all seems immaterial, as this afternoon a second announcement came via the NZX.
“NZME further advises that it has today received a letter from James (Jim) Grenon, in his own right and through his entity, JTG 4 Limited (JTG), which contains a proposal to remove all of the current directors of NZME and nominations for the appointment of four new directors to the NZME Board.”
The release went on to state that “Mr Grenon and JTG’s letter states that they have discussed in confidence these proposals with some of NZME’s largest shareholders, who hold approximately 37% of NZME’s shares.” The 37% referenced includes Grenon’s shareholding of almost 10%*. If he and his allies can get more shareholders on side to control a majority, the motion will pass and new directors will be installed. If that happens, they will have effective control of New Zealand’s most important newspaper, its largest radio audience and one of its two major business news sites. Essentially, the most important news infrastructure in New Zealand.
Who is driving this? James (Jim) Grenon is a Canadian billionaire who made his money through private equity firm Tom Capital Management, which he founded in 1995. Grenon moved to New Zealand in 2012, and now lives in a $19.5m beachfront home in Takapuna on Auckland’s North Shore.
Around the time of his move, Grenon’s attempts to transfer C$55 million (NZ$68.2m) to New Zealand while he was embroiled in court action with Canada’s tax agency made headlines in his home country. The case revolved around whether tax exemptions arising from a sophisticated investment fund structure amounted to tax avoidance, and the agency tried but ultimately failed to stop Grenon shifting the millions, reported BusinessDesk in 2023.
Grenon gained public attention here over his connections to alternative news outlets New Zealand News Essentials (NZNE) and The Centrist, which have been linked to alt-right influencer Chantelle Baker. Grenon was the sole director and shareholder of The Centrist until mid-2023, when the roles were transferred to another Canadian, Tameem Adam Abdul-majeed Barakat.
He also registered as a promoter for the 2023 general election, which the law requires of any person or entity anticipating spending more than $15,700 on election-related advertising in the three months leading up to election day. Anyone spending more than $100,000 is required to provide a breakdown of spending to the Electoral Commission, which Grenon did not.
A senior NZME staff member said “we’re terrified”, as the NZX announcement swept the company. Coming after a deep cut into the editorial operation in favour of a talk-driven digital TV news channel, it adds to an air of immense instability at what had previously been a relatively calm part of the troubled news business.
What’s driving this? It’s a combination of factors. Grenon’s previous startup ventures, The Centrist and NZNE (NZ News Essentials, a deliberate provocation to the company he now seeks to control), are aggregation sites with a smattering of original content. They are largely preoccupied with a small handful of issues – trans rights, Treaty coverage and vaccine efficacy and injuries. They can be read as a critique of the news agenda of larger news organisations’ coverage of such areas, and in this way join a global perception that mainstream news organisations have either ducked or adopted an ideological slant around certain culture war fronts.
Grenon’s claim to have the support of 37% of the company’s shareholders has yet to be tested. A large majority are institutional investors, often holding shares on behalf of others, which are unlikely to believe that it’s worth taking over a major media company to adjust its editorial line. That’s where the One Roof angle comes in. Many investors here and in Australia see One Roof as effectively a tech company – a similar site in Australia, Domain, is currently subject to an AU$2.7bn takeover offer – buried inside a legacy news company.
NZME would strongly reject that characterisation of its business, but the decision to explore options for One Roof suggests some shareholders buy the theory. Their support of Grenon’s bid might be more about realising that value. In a potential future transaction, they would gain valuable shares in a standalone One Roof, while NZME carried on, smaller and leaner, without the property portal. That would, in turn, make it cheaper to take over for those seeking to take control of it for ideological reasons.
Much of this is conjecture, is joining the dots. Grenon might yet prove a docile shareholder or board member. He might be just interested in unlocking One Roof’s value. Yet the bizarre slide from the shareholder presentation suggests that the editorial direction of NZME is squarely in someone’s sights. While this is not technically a hostile takeover of our most important news company, it certainly has a hostility about it in the desire to empty the board. There is plenty to emerge on this one – but it appears NZME is under attack. Who ultimately controls it, and what they do if they win, will become the most discussed topic in the newsroom in the coming weeks.
*An earlier version of this story said that the 37% of shareholders referenced by Grenon did not include his own shareholding of almost 10%. NZME has since contacted The Spinoff to clarify that the 37% figure does include Grenon’s stake in the company.
