Nine Entertainment, owner of Nine Network, to float next month in $2.2b initial public offering Channel 9 owner Nine Entertainment will hit the market on December 6. THE company that owns the Nine Network will start trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on December 6 - less than a year after a major debt financing deal was approved. Under the float, Nine Entertainment Co will have a market capitalisation of $1.93 billion to $2.17 billion. Nine Entertainment owns business including the Nine Network - Australia's second highest rating TV broadcaster - Ticketek and Mi9, owner of entertainment website NineMSN. The company today lodged a prospectus for an initial public offering. Eligible investors are expected to pay between $2.05 and $2.35 a share. It is expected to be the biggest float of an Australian company this year. Nine Entertainment chief David Gyngell. Nine chief executive David Gygnell said the listing would help the company maintain its market position and grow its event business. ``A listing on the ASX will help us to continue our strong momentum and consolidate our position as a leading FTA (free to air) TV network in Australia," Mr Gyngell said. He said it would also help Nine "maintain our strong industry position and expand the Nine Events business, and continue to grow Mi9 and our other digital media assets." Institutional investors may be wary about the float, considering that until a year ago, Nine had owed $2.3 billion to US hedge funds Apollo and Oaktree, and another $1 billion to investment bank Goldman Sachs. ``I don't think the big investors will be rushing towards this," said Steve Allen, the founder of media planning business Fusion Strategy. Nine is banking on the pulling power of its network's personalities, including Sonia Kruger. But, he said, smaller retail investors were more likely to be excited at the prospect of buying into a TV network as the advertising market improved during the next three years. ``Television's a mature business but its outlook is quite reasonable," he said. In late January, Federal Court justice Peter Jacobson approved a $3.4 billion refinancing deal that ended private equity group CVC Asia-Pacific's stewardship of Nine, and wrote off a $1.9 billion investment loss. Apollo and Oaktree were also given directorship rights, as lenders were able to swap their debt for shares in Nine. In recent months, they have bought TV stations from Nine's regional partner Win in Adelaide and Perth, and purchased Microsoft's 50 per cent stake in Mi9.