Nine Unveils Fairfax JV Management Structure, As 144 Roles Face The Axe

Following last week’s decision in the Federal Court to allow Nine’s takeover of Fairfax, CEO Hugh Marks has today outlined the company’s new management structure and news that 144 roles are set to be made redundant.

The group will be organised into the following operating businesses:

Australian Community Media, Printing and Stuff – which continues to be led by Allen Williams, managing director community and printing. The New Zealand business, Stuff, will report through to Williams but continues to be run by CEO Sinead Boucher.
Publishing: including, Metro Mastheads, Nine Digital and Events – will be led by Chris Janz as managing director, publishing.
Stan – led by CEO Mike Sneesby.
Television – led by Michael Healy as director of television.

Greg Barnes will be chief financial officer.

Michael Stephenson will continue in his role as chief sales officer with Lizzie Young continuing as group director of content strategy, which includes Powered.

Other corporate appointments include Alexi Baker as director of strategy and corporate development; Rachel Launders as general counsel and company secretary and Vanessa Morley as director of people and culture.

As part of the merger, Nine becomes majority shareholder in Domain led by Jason Pellegrino, and Macquarie Radio led by Adam Lang. Both businesses will remain as separately listed companies with independent boards.

Marks said in a statement: “In total 144 roles will be made redundant due to duplication and some vacant positions will no longer be required. This impacts approximately 92 people. We have spoken to or will speak to those affected as soon as possible so that all employees have clarity and certainty before we commence operations as a combined business.

“Where appropriate our aim is to immediately redeploy affected employees or if this is not possible they will have immediate access to outplacement services and support through the Nine and Fairfax Employee Assistance Programs.

“By the end of the coming week, we will have completed most of the work needed in relation to ‘synergies’, including redundancies,” Marks said.

The one exception to the axe will be IT. Nine’s focus had been on critical day one needs and it is yet to decide the best path forward for duplicate systems such as ERP, HR, payroll, office productivity and content management.

“Thank you to everyone for your patience as we have worked through the process. We can now move forward with confidence as a stronger and more sustainable business with many new and exciting opportunities ahead. This is truly an amazing opportunity for our combined future,” Marks concluded.

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