AFP News

The Fairfax family has exited the Australian publishing giant which bears its name, ending its connection to The Sydney Morning Herald, a paper it controlled for close to 150 years.

John Brehmer Fairfax's investment company Marinya Media Thursday sold the majority of its shares in Fairfax Media -- a 9.7 percent stake -- for A$193 million (US$196 million), the Sydney Morning Herald said.

John Brehmer Fairfax retired from the company's board a year ago and the sale is expected to see his son Nicholas Fairfax also step down as a director.

Fairfax said the decision to part with the shares was not easy, but said he was selling to balance and diversify his investments and he was confident the current board could take the group forward.

"Importantly, I have every confidence they are fully aware of the need in our democratic society for a vigorous press producing quality journalism," he said in a statement.

"Fairfax does this better than anyone else and I am confident they will continue to do so."

Fairfax Chairman Roger Corbett said the company, which also publishes The Melbourne Age and The Australian Financial Review, would benefit from a broader shareholder base.

Fairfax, which dominates Australian media with Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd, owns websites, newspapers and radio stations.

It has faced sliding advertising and circulation revenues and earlier this year posted a full-year net loss of Aus$390.9 million on writedowns on its mastheads, well down from last year's profit of Aus$282.1 million.

The Fairfax family founded Fairfax Media in 1841 when they bought the Sydney Morning Herald, but they lost control of the company in 1990.

Source: 

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/australias-fairfax-family-cuts-newspapers-045854138.html