GATINEAU – CanWest Global’s unusually structured deal to acquire the broadcasting assets of Alliance Atlantis was approved today by the CRTC.
CanWest is buying the 13 specialty channels owned by Alliance Atlantis (BBC Canada, BBC Kids, Discovery Health, Fine Living, Food Network Canada, HGTV, History Television, Independent Film Channel Canada, National Geographic Channel, Showcase, Showcase Action, Showcase Diva, and Slice [formerly Life]) for about $1.4 billion.
The deal also includes the acquisition of partial ownership in The Score, One: Body, Mind and Spirit, Historia and Series+.
The acquisition is being financed through debt, $260 million from CanWest and $650 million from U.S. private equity firm Goldman Sachs.
The fact that so much of the equity is being put up by GS raised concerns – and continues to raise concern – in certain quarters who believe it is the thin edge of the wedge leading to American control of the Canadian broadcast industry.
But it’s a more complex deal than just that. It calls for CanWest eventually rolling in its own broadcast assets into a new company in the 2011-2012 time frame, at which time GS will exit the investment.
"We are satisfied that this transaction meets the requirements for Canadian control both in law and fact," said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC. "In examining the application, we wanted to be certain that this transaction is consistent with the policies set out in the Broadcasting Act and beneficial to the Canadian broadcasting system as a whole."
More to come.
