Ten Network Creditor Meeting Delayed Amid Court Challenge to CBS Deal

Struggling Australian television broadcaster Ten Network Holdings Ltd. (TEN.AU) will delay a meeting where creditors were expected to vote on plans for U.S. media giant CBS Corp. (CBS) to buy the company, following a legal challenge to the deal.

The receivers for Ten Network said the meeting would be held on Sept. 19, later than the original date of Sept. 12. The receivers said the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered the meeting delayed and that the court is likely to hear the legal challenge next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The court case is led by Bruce Gordon, who controls Australian media company WIN Corp. and had sought to buy Ten Network in a joint venture with Lachlan Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch is co-chairman of News Corp, parent company of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones.

CBS is Ten Network's largest unsecured creditor and analysts said the deal to buy Ten Network would protect CBS's distribution in Australia, and give it a platform to roll out a new streaming service it is looking to expand globally.

Ten Network, one of Australia's three main broadcasters, went into voluntary administration in June as the media industry in general struggled with a weak advertising market and competition from online streaming.

-Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 07, 2017 19:21 ET (23:21 GMT)