Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPHL) was formed on 4 August 1984 through a merger of three organisations, The Straits Times Press Group, Singapore News and Publications Limited and Times Publishing Berhad.[2]
SPHL readership has stagnated since the early-2000s, as Singaporeans increasingly turned to online media for their news consumption.[3]
On 6 May 2021, SPHL in response to shareholder pressures, had proposed that it would restructure itself and transfer its media business into a company limited by guarantee (CLG), which will be privately managed.[4][5] The new CLG will be initially managed by the holders of SPHL’s current management shareholders: OCBC Bank, Great Eastern, United Overseas Bank, DBS Bank, Singtel, NTUC Income, Temasek, the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, while still having to issue new management shares of the media business under the CLG as required by Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.[6][7] The government would also lift the shareholder limits on the currently listed SPH entity.[7] This new CLG was named SPH Media Trust.[8]