CRTC likely won't turn down CanWest purchase of Alliance Atlantis: lawyer

TORONTO – Law firm Heenan Blaikie LLP has issued a media release stating that CanWest Global Communications Corp.’s takeover of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. shouldn’t necessarily be barred because American investment firm Goldman Sachs is putting up more than 80% of the equity to fund the purchase. The deal doesn’t necessarily challenge foreign-ownership rules, according to a lawyer at the firm, who calls the case “far more gray” than transactions where there have been specific tests banning transactions, such as owning too many TV stations in one market. “The broadcasting foreign ownership rules do not expressly prohibit a foreign company...