The Nine acquisition of - sorry, merger with - Fairfax Media gets better (for shareholders) the more management look at it.
Expected cost savings have been upped from $50 million to $65 million as the combined business starts trading.
Nine has announced that it has identified an extra $15m in cost savings, bringing the total to $65 million. $35 million of the original estimate of $50 million has already been realised, and $50 million will still be realised by next June, with the balance in the following year.
Rationalisation of technology costs is "still largely to be addressed".
Last week Nine disclosed that 92 staff would lose their jobs, fewer than the 144 positions which are being made redundant because some are unfilled. Among those who are leaving or have left are the architect of the deal, Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood, chief financial officer David Housego, Gail Hambly who is Fairfax general counsel, group director of strategy and corporate development Dhruv Gupta, head of human resources Michelle Williams and director of communications Brad Hatch.
Fairfax's Victorian publisher Mark Hawthorne has also announced his departure on Twitter, marking 14 years and 5289 editions at The Age - which he describes as "one hell of a newspaper" - and the Sydney Morning Herald.
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