OTTAWA – Newcap may officially proceed with its purchase of five radio properties formally owned by Bell after receiving CRTC approval of the deal Wednesday.
As Cartt.ca reported, Bell Media agreed to sell five of 10 radio properties as part of a list of conditions set by the CRTC pending its approval last June of BCE Inc.’s acquisition of Astral Media for $3.2 billion. Newfoundland Capital Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiary Newcap Inc. agreed to buy the stations for $112 million.
For Newcap, which already owns 90 radio stations across Canada, the deal marks the company’s foray into two of Canada’s largest radio markets: Toronto and Vancouver. The radio broadcasting licenses are CHBM-FM (Boom 97.3) and CFXJ-FM (93.5 Flow) in Toronto, and CKZZ-FM (Virgin Radio 95.3), CHHR-FM (Shore 104.3 FM), and CISL-AM (AM 650) in Vancouver.
As part of its approval, the Commission revised value of the transaction to $125.9 million.
Newcap said that the transaction is expected to be completed on or about March 31, 2014. President and CEO Rob Steele described the acquisition as "a rare opportunity" and a "transformational move for Newcap".
"This provides an excellent opportunity for us going forward – greatly expanding our listener base and increasing the size of our business", he said in a statement. "We specialize exclusively in radio and all of our focus and expertise is dedicated to creating successful radio stations which benefits our employees, listeners and advertising clients.”
