WINNIPEG – Canwest Global Communications has filed for creditor protection for its publishing business.
The CCAA filing applies to Canwest Publishing Inc. / Publications Canwest Inc., Canwest Books Inc. (inactive), Canwest (Canada) Inc., and the Limited Partnership which includes all of Canwest’s newspaper publishing and associated digital media, on-line and mobile operations, with the exception of National Post Inc. and its associated properties.
In a press release on Friday, the company said that the move “will address the LP Entities’ current debt level, preserve jobs and protect newspaper publishing brands that Canadians have come to know and trust over the past 100 years. Creditor protection will enable an orderly financial restructuring of the LP Entities and ensure they continue as a stronger, integrated newspaper and digital media publishing business with a renewed financial outlook.”
Canwest also said that it has hired RBC Capital Markets to undertake a sale and investor solicitation process within the restructuring proceeding.
Day-to-day business operations will continue uninterrupted during the financial restructuring with operating cash flow sufficient to fund ongoing operations, the release continued.
CW Media Inc.’s specialty channels plus TVtropolis, MysteryTV or MenTV are not affected by this move as they are not under creditor protection. Other business units, including Canwest Global Communications Corp., Canwest Media Inc., Canwest Television Limited Partnership (including Global Television Network, MovieTime, DejaView and Fox Sports World), remain under separate CCAA creditor protection granted by the court last October.
