Public-listed Nexnews Bhd is expected to enter the media publishing business soon with the acquisition of The Edge business weekly and The Sun English daily.

It received the nod from the Securities Commission (SC) to buy the two publications o­n March 26.

Nexnews has received approval from the SC for the acquisition of The Edge Communicatrions Sdn Bhd and Sun Media Corporation Sdn Bhd, publishers of The Edge and The Sun respectively, its chief executive officer Tong Kooi o­ng said in a statement.

He said the SC has approved its proposed acquisition of the entire equity interest in Sun Media Corporation and 70 percent of the existing equity interest in The Edge Communications, subject to several conditions.

"The acquisition of the two publishing houses will enable Nexnews to create better value for its stakeholders," Tong explained.

Core business

"Since assuming management of the former gold ornaments and jewellery manufacturing concern, the board of directors and management had planned for a new core business to strengthen the company as it had been registering losses in the past few years.

"With the approval, Nexnews will work towards meeting the conditions in order to proceed to establish its core business in media content and publishing through its two subsidiaries.

" The Edge has already established its niche as a credible business and investment weekly since its launch in 1994 with an audited circulation of 18,909 copies per issue as at June 2002, while The Sun recently climbed to the Number Two spot among the English dailies in terms of circulation."

According to Tong, The Edge has a readership audience in excess of 100,000 and its o­nline daily version, theedgedaily.com and sister publication Personal Money , a monthly personal finance magazine, are also fast gaining popularity.

He said The Sun's audited circulation as at July-December 2002 stood at 142,996 copies.

Nexnews is listed o­n the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. It registered a pre-tax loss of RM6.6 million with turnover of RM10.9 million for the year ending December 31, 2002.