Nine has sold its sports event portfolio to The IRONMAN Group’s Oceania Division for $31 million.
The sale will see around half of the employees within the events and entertainment division (formerly Fairfax Events and Entertainment) moving across to the new division.
The division will run The Sun-Herald City2Surf presented by Westpac, The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon, Carman’s Women’s Fun Run, Melbourne Corporate Triathlon and Spring Cycle.
Nine’s publications will continue to have an ongoing relationship with their respective events, continuing as naming partners.
The IRONMAN Group Oceania managing director, Dave Beeche said: “The Fairfax Media events team are outstanding and have a reputation for delivering world-class events.
“Sydney and Melbourne are considered two of the world’s greatest cities and with the addition of these events, we now have a major presence in each with staff expertise that will allow for us to be forward thinking as we evolve and develop.
“We look forward to integrating those involved with the events into our business as we continue to ensure our global community receives the life-changing race experiences that they have come to know and expect from us.”
Nine has also confirmed that its business and food assets, which include the Night Noodle Markets, Good Food Month, The Australian Financial Review Business Summit and Women of Influence Awards, will move into its publishing division to better align with their respective editorial brands.
Nine’s acting managing director of events and entertainment, Alex Parsons said: “Today’s announcement sees iconic events like The Sun-Herald City2Surf and The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon bought by an owner who is well placed to maximise the value of the business and help it grow into the future.
“The decision to put food and business within publishing helps to ensure popular events like Good Food Month and The Australian Financial Review Business Summit continue to be well placed to leverage the power of their associated editorial brands.”
As part of these changes, Nine also confirmed it would no longer continue with some of its smaller sporting events, and also exit the parenting vertical.
These changes have resulted in a limited number of redundancies within the business.
Alex Parsons, who was brought in to oversee the sale process, will complete the sale and related transactions in the coming weeks.
