5/4/2026
Stokes Camp Flexes Muscle at Southern Cross, Chairman Resigns
Australian Financial Review (05/04/26) Buckingham-Jones, Sam
Southern Cross Media (ASX: SXL) Chairman Heith Mackay-Cruise is resigning and handing over to a long-time ally of Kerry Stokes, as the businessman strengthens his grip over the radio and television empire. The billionaire Stokes family merged Network Seven owner Seven West (ASX: SWM) into Southern Cross earlier this year in a deal that did not require approval from the latter’s shareholders. The deal handed Stokes almost $200 million in tax credits, and suggested he was happy to walk away from the business, where he had wielded outsize influence for three decades. But the ouster of Mackay-Cruise, who had been the chairman of Southern Cross before taking the job at the merged company, indicates Stokes is reasserting control. He has been helped by Southern Cross shareholders, including Sandon Capital, which had requested a vote to remove Mackay-Cruise and two other directors. Mackay-Cruise will be replaced by Teresa Dyson, who had been on the Seven West board since 2017 before becoming a director of the merged company. Dyson is a tax adviser and a former partner at Ashurst and Deloitte who sits on the Takeovers Panel and the boards of Humm Group and Shine Justice. The change in chair is just one of a series of moves that suggest a stronger Stokes influence at Southern Cross, which owns the Seven Network, the Triple M and Hit radio networks, and West Australian Bruce McWilliam, a long-time Seven West executive, has bought a $14 million stake in Southern Cross – a little over 5% – and has made it clear he wants to join the board. He has been reaching out to major shareholders to buy more of the company. With Mackay-Cruise stepping down, Southern Cross said it was looking for “independent non-executive directors.” Given his long association with Stokes, this could potentially rule McWilliam out of a board position. Likewise, former NRMA chief executive and former Seven West chief operating officer Rohan Lund was appointed chief executive of Southern Cross, with former Southern Cross chief executive John Kelly missing out. Lund started on Friday and has wasted little time outlining his vision for the company to staff. “We need to hustle for the revenue we deserve. We need to reset our costs quickly so we have the capacity to do what we do best. We need to meet our audience on any device, at any time,” he wrote in an email. He is restructuring the newly merged company into three divisions – audio, publishing and television – according to people briefed on his plans who requested anonymity to speak more freely. The audio division would be led by Kelly and publishing by Seven’s former West Australian chief executive, Maryna Fewster. A television lead is being recruited, and Lund is considering bringing back Angus Ross, who ran Seven West’s television business until he was cut by Mackay-Cruise less than two months ago. Fewster and Ross were widely known to be close to Stokes. Lund and Dyson face steep challenges at Southern Cross. Free-to-air television revenue has been on a downward trajectory for years, although the Seven Network remains a dominant player. Seven and the Nine Network (owned by Nine Entertainment (ASX: NEC), publisher of The Australian Financial Review) command about 81% of metropolitan television revenue, which has fallen year-on-year in 43 of the past 48 months – down 10% a year, on average. Radio revenue is also declining, but far more slowly. The merger of Seven West and Southern Cross was meant to create a group with scale – it has about $1.8 billion in revenue and $215 million in earnings – that would appeal to investors. The opposite happened. Its market capitalization has fallen from around $430 million to just $287 million this year. Sandon’s chief investment officer, Gabriel Radzyminski, who last week lodged formal applications to remove Mackay-Cruise and fellow directors Ido Leffler and Marina Go, said he was pleased the chairman was leaving. “We look forward to engaging with the board and other shareholders about the long-term future of the company,” Radzyminski said. Mackay-Cruise will step down on June 30, while Leffler will stay until the annual meeting this year, the company said. Go, it noted, had the backing of SGH Limited (ASX: SGH), the ASX-listed industrials conglomerate which holds 20% of Southern Cross. He spent six years at Southern Cross, two of those as chairman. In his short tenure at the top of the combined company, he moved aggressively to rein in costs and cut those who he deemed unnecessary – the merger promised savings of $30 million. Days after the deal closed, he sacked Jeff Howard, the former Seven West chief executive who it was agreed would lead the combined group. Mackay-Cruise also removed Ross and Seven’s chief operating officer Trent Dickeson, as well as Seven’s human resources chief, Lucinda Gemmell, and Southern Cross’ chief legal officer, Sarah Tinsley. “I believe [Southern Cross] is well-positioned for the future, and it is the right time for me to move on to other challenges,” he said. In his note, Lund paid tribute to Mackay-Cruise and spoke of his enthusiasm for returning to the media. “There is something very special about working in media. It’s tumultuous and bumpy. It’s thrilling and joyous. I really missed it,” he said.
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