DARTMOUTH, NS – Bell Media has agreed to sell five of the 10 radio properties that it must divest as part of its acquisition of Astral to Newfoundland Capital Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Newcap Inc., for $112 million.
For Newcap, which already owns 88 radio stations across Canada, today’s deal marks the company’s foray into two of Canada’s largest radio markets, as it picks up two Toronto and three Vancouver Bell radio stations.
Newcap will acquire the radio broadcasting licenses of CHBM-FM (Boom 97.3) and CFXJ-FM (93.5 Flow) in Toronto, and CKZZ-FM (Virgin Radio 95.3), CHHR-FM (Shore 104.3 FM), and CISL-AM (AM 650) in Vancouver. The transaction is subject to approval from the CRTC and the Competition Bureau.
“The acquisition of these stations in Canada’s two largest radio markets is a rare opportunity and is a transformational move for Newcap,” said president and CEO Rob Steele of the announcement. “This provides an excellent opportunity for us going forward – greatly expanding our listener base and increasing the size of our business.”
Steele told the Financial Post Monday that it was too early to say whether or not Newcap would be revamping any of the stations’ programming formats.
Newcap reported revenues of approximately $40 million at the end of its fiscal 2013 year which ended May 31. The company said it expects this acquisition to be accretive to earnings per share.
Bell agreed to divest itself of a number of assets, including the 10 radio stations, as part of a list of conditions set by the CRTC as part of its approval last June of BCE Inc.’s acquisition of Astral Media for $3.2 billion.
