Lachlan Murdoch pulls out of deal with James Packer

Sydney, Apr 7 : Media heir Lachlan Murdoch has pulled out of a 3.3 billion dollar deal to privatise Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd (CMH) with friend and fellow tycoon James Packer.

Monday's announcement of the withdrawal of Murdoch's private company, Illyria Pty Ltd, was made after CMH shares went into a trading halt.

Murdoch said in a letter to CMH that Illyria was not in a position to proceed with the indicative proposal set out in a letter to CMH on January 21 "due to material changes in the overall transaction terms".

Illyria, and CMH's major shareholder, the Packer family's Consolidated Press Holdings Ltd (CPH), made a non-binding indicative proposal in January to each take a 50:50 stake in the media investment company.

It is understood that there has been no room for negotiation from Murdoch's original valuation of the group at 4.80 dollar a share, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

ANI