Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd (ConsMedia) has announced Friday that it is asking its shareholders to use $225 million in its plan to buy back 11.88 percent of the company's 620.71 million shares on issue, which analysts said are indications that the media company is on road to become private anew.

An AAP report said that the publicly listed ConsMedia has about $252 million in the bank as of April 2010 and is weighing its options in using the solid cash balance as it faces the spectre of more control by Jerry Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings Ltd and Kerry Stokes' Seven Network Ltd should the buyback plan gets underway.

At present, Mr Packer has a 45.3 percent interests on ConsMedia while Mr Stokes holds 22.1 percent shares and industry experts said the former would still emerge as majority owner even in the event that neither of the two would dip their fingers on the buy back plan.

Peter Cox of Cox Media told AAP that privatising ConsMedia would definitely benefit Mr Packer while Mr Stoke would hardly see the advantages of making the company private, adding that in the end majority shareholders will increase their stakes once the smaller players are out of the picture.

Mr Cox also said that a privatised ConsMedia is definitely a plus for the company and for its majority owners, which currently includes Mr Packer and Mr Murdoch, whose increased holding should reap more benefits for them over the long haul.

In its Friday statement, ConsMedia, which currently owns Premier Media Group and holds interest on Foxtel, said that its buy back plan will make good use of available cash in the absence of better investment and acquisition offerings and will assure shareholders that surplus cash of the company is being wisely utilised.

It has admitted though that the buyback plan could affect the company's dividends payment scheduled on June 30, 2011 and a possible exclusion from S&P/ASX indices, even as analysts expressed little surprise in seeing a privatised ConsMedia.

Wealth Within's Dale Gilham told AAP that the Packer family has been known to gravitate towards a private company, as he cited that Kerry Packer, James' father, "always preferred to be a private company because obviously then you are not responsible to the Australian stock. It wouldn't surprise me if James is of the same ilk and wanting to do that as well."

ConsMedia shareholders are scheduled to vote on the buyback plan on its general meeting set on May 28 as a report by Deloitte Corporate Finance has placed the company's shares value at a low of $3.33, and going into its highest of $3.73.