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$11-million paid, a CanWest deal is made
Thursday June 24th 2010It took more than 16 hours of negotiations and $11-million to remove the final roadblock to the purchase of the CanWest TV empire by Shaw Communications Inc. – and to mark the end of the Asper family’s involvement in the broadcasting company Izzy Asper founded with a single TV station in 1974.
An Ontario court approved the sale to Shaw on Wednesday, after the company resolved a dispute with a shareholder group led by the Aspers, who objected to the deal. On Tuesday, Madam Justice Sarah Pepall called the situation “ridiculous” and ordered lawyers to resolve it out of court.
Talks ran through the day on Tuesday until 2 a.m. Wednesday, and resumed in the morning, ending in the settlement.
In February, Shaw won court approval to invest in a restructured CanWest, but encountered resistance from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which still controlled a group of the company’s lucrative specialty channels. In May, Shaw announced it would pay $700-million for those channels, raising the price of its deal to $2-billion in total, and raising its stake in CanWest to 100 per cent.
The Asper-led group complained that the newer deal wiped out a 2.3-per-cent equity interest given to them in February. The $11-million settlement is equal to that earlier amount. The Asper family will receive 48 per cent of the money.
In addition, $440-million (U.S.) will be paid to CanWest’s bondholders and $38-million (Canadian) will be set aside for all other unsecured creditors.
“We stand here today united in saying that it’s fair and reasonable, and there really isn’t any alternative,” CanWest lawyer Lyndon Barnes said on Wednesday. “This is what we’ve been striving for.”
Judge Pepall congratulated the lawyers on achieving a resolution.
“Unlike the sister restructuring of the [newspaper division], this CCAA [Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act] proceeding has experienced problems,” she said.
The court approval granted on Wednesday is a major step toward CanWest’s broadcast division emerging from creditor protection.
Creditors will meet on July 19 to vote on the deal. If it is approved, CanWest will appear in court again on July 28. The company will also need approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and from the Competition Bureau. Its target date to emerge from restructuring is Sept. 30.
“This is an important milestone in the lengthy and difficult CCAA process that CanWest has endured over the last several months,” Shaw president Peter Bissonnette said in a statement. “… We look forward to completing all necessary steps and closing the transaction as soon as possible.”
Source: The Globe and Mail
Headline, Industry News
$11-million paid, a CanWest deal is made
Thursday June 24th 2010It took more than 16 hours of negotiations and $11-million to remove the final roadblock to the purchase of the CanWest TV empire by Shaw Communications Inc. – and to mark the end of the Asper family’s involvement in the broadcasting company Izzy Asper founded with a single TV station in 1974.
An Ontario court approved the sale to Shaw on Wednesday, after the company resolved a dispute with a shareholder group led by the Aspers, who objected to the deal. On Tuesday, Madam Justice Sarah Pepall called the situation “ridiculous” and ordered lawyers to resolve it out of court.
Talks ran through the day on Tuesday until 2 a.m. Wednesday, and resumed in the morning, ending in the settlement.
In February, Shaw won court approval to invest in a restructured CanWest, but encountered resistance from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which still controlled a group of the company’s lucrative specialty channels. In May, Shaw announced it would pay $700-million for those channels, raising the price of its deal to $2-billion in total, and raising its stake in CanWest to 100 per cent.
The Asper-led group complained that the newer deal wiped out a 2.3-per-cent equity interest given to them in February. The $11-million settlement is equal to that earlier amount. The Asper family will receive 48 per cent of the money.
In addition, $440-million (U.S.) will be paid to CanWest’s bondholders and $38-million (Canadian) will be set aside for all other unsecured creditors.
“We stand here today united in saying that it’s fair and reasonable, and there really isn’t any alternative,” CanWest lawyer Lyndon Barnes said on Wednesday. “This is what we’ve been striving for.”
Judge Pepall congratulated the lawyers on achieving a resolution.
“Unlike the sister restructuring of the [newspaper division], this CCAA [Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act] proceeding has experienced problems,” she said.
The court approval granted on Wednesday is a major step toward CanWest’s broadcast division emerging from creditor protection.
Creditors will meet on July 19 to vote on the deal. If it is approved, CanWest will appear in court again on July 28. The company will also need approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and from the Competition Bureau. Its target date to emerge from restructuring is Sept. 30.
“This is an important milestone in the lengthy and difficult CCAA process that CanWest has endured over the last several months,” Shaw president Peter Bissonnette said in a statement. “… We look forward to completing all necessary steps and closing the transaction as soon as possible.”
Source: The Globe and Mail
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Headline, Industry News
$11-million paid, a CanWest deal is made
Thursday June 24th 2010It took more than 16 hours of negotiations and $11-million to remove the final roadblock to the purchase of the CanWest TV empire by Shaw Communications Inc. – and to mark the end of the Asper family’s involvement in the broadcasting company Izzy Asper founded with a single TV station in 1974.
An Ontario court approved the sale to Shaw on Wednesday, after the company resolved a dispute with a shareholder group led by the Aspers, who objected to the deal. On Tuesday, Madam Justice Sarah Pepall called the situation “ridiculous” and ordered lawyers to resolve it out of court.
Talks ran through the day on Tuesday until 2 a.m. Wednesday, and resumed in the morning, ending in the settlement.
In February, Shaw won court approval to invest in a restructured CanWest, but encountered resistance from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which still controlled a group of the company’s lucrative specialty channels. In May, Shaw announced it would pay $700-million for those channels, raising the price of its deal to $2-billion in total, and raising its stake in CanWest to 100 per cent.
The Asper-led group complained that the newer deal wiped out a 2.3-per-cent equity interest given to them in February. The $11-million settlement is equal to that earlier amount. The Asper family will receive 48 per cent of the money.
In addition, $440-million (U.S.) will be paid to CanWest’s bondholders and $38-million (Canadian) will be set aside for all other unsecured creditors.
“We stand here today united in saying that it’s fair and reasonable, and there really isn’t any alternative,” CanWest lawyer Lyndon Barnes said on Wednesday. “This is what we’ve been striving for.”
Judge Pepall congratulated the lawyers on achieving a resolution.
“Unlike the sister restructuring of the [newspaper division], this CCAA [Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act] proceeding has experienced problems,” she said.
The court approval granted on Wednesday is a major step toward CanWest’s broadcast division emerging from creditor protection.
Creditors will meet on July 19 to vote on the deal. If it is approved, CanWest will appear in court again on July 28. The company will also need approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and from the Competition Bureau. Its target date to emerge from restructuring is Sept. 30.
“This is an important milestone in the lengthy and difficult CCAA process that CanWest has endured over the last several months,” Shaw president Peter Bissonnette said in a statement. “… We look forward to completing all necessary steps and closing the transaction as soon as possible.”
Source: The Globe and Mail
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