TORONTO – Corus Entertainment Inc. has received clearance from the Competition Bureau to proceed with its acquisition of the remaining ownership interest of Teletoon, as well as French-language specialty Historia and Séries+.
Corus will acquire the 50% remaining ownership interest in Teletoon, which includes Télétoon (French), Teletoon and Télétoon Retro and Cartoon Network, as well as the 50% ownership interests in the French-language specialty channels, Historia and Séries+, that Bell will acquire as part of the acquisition of Astral Media Inc., which was also recently approved by the Competition Bureau.
Corus has also entered into an agreement with Bell to acquire the two Ottawa radio stations, CKQB-FM and CJOT-FM, that Bell will own upon the completion of the Astral transaction. In separate agreements between Corus and Shaw Media, Corus will acquire Shaw Media’s 50% interest in Historia and Séries+, which will result in both services being wholly owned by Corus.
Corus will also acquire from Shaw Media the remaining 49% interest in the ABC Spark specialty channel and Corus will sell its 20% interest in Food Network Canada to Shaw Media. These transactions are subject to CRTC approval.
“Clearance from the Competition Bureau is very positive news and is the first step in the completion of these transformational transactions for Corus,” John Cassaday, president and CEO, Corus Entertainment, said in a release. “These acquisitions give Corus the scale to expand into the growing French-language television market, providing greater diversity and more choice in the system. As well, it consolidates the ownership of Teletoon and ABC Spark within Corus’ portfolio of branded specialty channels and provides entry into another major Canadian radio market.”
