Whistleblower complaint over Newstalk bid

THE CEO of Independent News & Media made a complaint under new whistleblower legislation about the circumstances surrounding a proposed bid for Newstalk, the radio station owned by INM’s largest shareholder, Denis O’Brien.

Following chief executive Robert Pitt’s protected disclosure, senior counsel and corporate governance experts were instructed in December to conduct an independent review of the proposed bid and the circumstances surrounding it for INM’s board, the Irish Times reported yesterday.

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the State’s corporate watchdog, demanded INM’s company records regarding the possible acquisition and ‘related matters that were the subject of [INM’s] announcement on November 28, 2016’.

The company said it is complying with the requirement from the ODCE, which it says ‘is a procedural matter that does not involve any conclusion that there has been a breach of law by the company of its officers’.

The November announcement that forms part of the basis for the ODCE action was made to investors following queries from the Irish Times about the Newstalk bid.

INM confirmed there was ‘an issue’ between Mr Pitt and INM chairman Leslie Buckley, an associate of Mr O’Brien.

It confirmed the disagreement between the two men was over the terms of the proposed bid, which is believed to refer to the price INM might pay.

It is believed Mr Pitt commissioned a valuation that was much lower than the price sought by Communicorp, the company that owns Newstalk and is also owned by billionaire Denis O’Brien.

Under whistleblower legislation, company employees may make a protected disclosure over alleged ‘relevant wrongdoings’. For example, failure within the company to comply with its legal responsibility.