Lachlan Murdoch takes first big public company role outside News Corp

Struggling listed media group Prime Media has announced the appointment of Lachlan Murdoch as deputy chairman in what is the Murdoch scion’s first major public company role since he left News Corp five years ago.

Murdoch’s investment company Illyria acquired a 9.1% stake in Prime Media about 18 months ago, and company executive Siobhan McKenna joined the board in August 2009.

However, the appointment of Murdoch as deputy chairman suggests Illyria will be taking a much closer involvement in turning Prime around.

The company’s share prices has fallen from about $2 to just over 60 cents in the last two years, and Prime reported a loss of $54 million for 2009-10, dragged down by about $64 million worth of writedowns.

However, Murdoch has done reasonably well on his investment in Prime. He bought in at 48c a share, meaning his return is around 33%.

Prime is in the middle of a management and business restructure under new chief executive Ian Audsley, who joined the company in June.

After selling the company’s Moonlight Cinemas business, Prime is now focused on two areas: radio and television.

Murdoch, who owns a 50% share in radio network DMG and who ran over 35 television stations while at News Corporation, should be well placed to help the turnaround of both divisions.

“I’m looking forward to working further with the Chairman Paul Ramsay, the Board and management in continuing Prime’s growth,” Murdoch said in a short statement released to the ASX yesterday.

Murdoch has put together an interesting collection of media-related assets since leaving News Corp, including stake in India Premier League team Rajasthan Royal, online DVD rental company Quickflix and toy company Funtastic.

SmartCompany recently valued his fortune at about $70 million.