Southern Cross bought Seven. Now it wants to be called Seven.

What happened

Southern Cross Media Group, which completed its all-scrip takeover of Seven West Media in January, wants to rename itself Seven Media Group Limited, with the ASX ticker moving from SXL to SMG. Shareholders vote at the AGM on 5 November, and the change needs 75% of votes cast.

The takeover gave Seven West Media shareholders 0.1552 Southern Cross shares for each share they held, valuing the company at about $385 million. Southern Cross holders kept 50.1%. The combined group runs the Seven Network and 7plus, the Hit and Triple M radio networks, LiSTNR, The Nightly and The West Australian.

Why it matters

When the buyer takes the target's name, it is telling you where the value sits. When the competition regulator cleared the deal last November, the two companies had combined revenue of $1.777 billion and a combined market value of just $417 million. That gap is the story of legacy media: big revenue, small valuations. The brand audiences and advertisers know is the asset worth leading with.

Who is in charge now

• The chair. Ryan Stokes took the chair in September.
• The register. Seven Group Holdings, the Stokes family vehicle, has lifted its stake from 20% to about 23% using the creep rule, which lets a holder of 19% or more add up to 3% every six months without making a bid.
• The board. Six directors are up for election at the AGM, including two appointed on 23 September. An activist holder with 5.5% wants to remove one director and has nominated its own candidate.

The numbers

• Revenue: down 4.5% to $1.87 billion in FY26 (pro forma).
• Television EBITDA: down 32%, as the metro free-to-air ad market fell 9.9%.
• Audio and digital: audio EBITDA up 15.5%, digital revenue up 10.7% to $320 million.
• Balance sheet: net debt of $363 million, 1.8 times EBITDA, refinanced with no maturities until 2029.
• Costs: the $30 million synergy target landed a year early, and a wider programme targets annual savings of $145–150 million.

The mid-market read

In a merger, the name customers know usually wins, whoever signed the cheque. If your brand carries the customer relationship, make sure the price reflects it, not just the EBITDA. And in an all-scrip deal, the exchange ratio is the first negotiation, not the last: control in year two comes from the chair, the board seats and who is allowed to keep buying. Negotiate the governance as hard as the ratio.

What to watch

• The 5 November AGM: the name change, the director votes and the activist resolution.
• Whether the cost programme can offset a television ad market that is still shrinking.

Also on the ledger

• Jobs. Unemployment was 4.7% in September (ABS, released 15 October), another input for the RBA's 3 November meeting.

General information only, not financial product advice.