OTTAWA – Right now, we would just call it “rumoured rumblings,” so one can never tell the veracity of the statements, but sources tell Cartt.ca they believe a decision from the CRTC on the CanWest Global purchase of Alliance Atlantis could come as early as Thursday.
What we do know is that CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein was pushing staff to get the decision done and released prior to the end of 2007 – and the timing of a release this week would place it right in the range of other 2007 broadcasting acquisition decisions. For example, the regulator issued decisions on the CTV purchase of CHUM in 37 days and the Rogers purchase of Citytv in 27 days.
As of this morning, it will have been 30 days since the end of the CanWest-Alliance Atlantis hearing.
As well, Von Finckenstein has said on a number of occasions during this first year of his term that speeding up the decision process was a priority of his.
Finally, the Commission has a note on its web site right now saying Thursday’s daily release won’t be until 5 p.m. Releases normally happen daily at 11 a.m. and are usually only delayed when there is something more important than normal, or which might require a release after the financial markets close trading because the decision involves a public company.
We won’t hazard a guess as to what kind of new regulatory conditions on the acquisition there might be (whenever the decision is announced) given the fact that a U.S. investment bank, Goldman Sachs, is putting up the bulk of the equity, but we here at Cartt.ca do expect the Commission to give the deal a thumbs-up.
Click here and follow the story links to read Cartt.ca’s gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearing last month.
