Fairfax to invest in Nine’s on-demand video streaming service; ASIC shows its hand in new activity report: Midday roundup

Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media are on the cusp of closing a $100 million deal which will see them join forces to create a new video streaming service, according to Fairfax.

The two companies have been in negotiations for more than three months. The deal will reportedly see Fairfax invest in Nine’s proposed on-demand video streaming service Stream Co.

According to Fairfax’s report, it is believed the two media companies will invest $50 million in the new business. The deal has not yet been finalised, however, an announcement could be made next week.

The news follows the announcement from video streaming giant Netflix that it will launch in Australia.

ASIC shows its hand in new activity report

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has published its bi-yearly report on its activities, revealing what the regulator has been focusing its energy on for the last six months.

The market supervision report said the corporate watchdog had 15 significant enforcement outcomes in the period from January to June 2014, eight infringement notices issued by the Markets Disciplinary Panel, 21 matters referred for further investigation and sent out more than 17,000 trading alerts.

ASIC also issued 326 notices to obtain information and executed four search warrants in partnership with the Australian Federal Police.

The report also discusses the $1.2 million penalty by the Federal Court on Newcrest Mining, which it said was a “significant enforcement outcome for ASIC, and investor confidence more broadly”.

Shares up on open

The S&P/ASX200 Benchmark was up 18.1 points to 5657 points at 12:09am AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed up 0.36%, rising 60.36 points to 17,039.49 points.