TORONTO – Employees inside the companies have not yet been officially informed, sources have told Cartt.ca, but the globeandmail.com is reporting that Bell Globemedia is set to purchase CHUM Limited.
CHUM shares have ceased trading on the TSX, pending a potential announcement.
CHUM owns 33 radio stations, 21, specialty channels and 12 local TV stations (Citytvs and A-Channels).
The move would be a complicated one, to be sure as several assets overlap and may need to be sold off due to CRTC and Competition Bureau concerns, but it would also make CTV the largest electronic media force in Canada.
Besides CTV, which has 21 conventional television stations across Canada, Bell Globemedia owns 17 specialty channels as well as the Globe and Mail newspaper (so no surprise at where the leak is coming from).
CHUM’s market value is $668 million and voting control is held by the Waters family, but expect the company to sell at a healthy premium.
Bell Globemedia is 68.5% owned by BCE while Woodbridge – the Thomson family holding company – owns the remainder.
More to come on this as it develops.
