CRTC approves CanWest acquisition of Alliance Atlantis channels
By Adnews Staff
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has approved the application by CanWest MediaWorks to acquire the broadcasting channels owned by Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting. "We are satisfied that this transaction meets the requirements for Canadian control both in law and fact," said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC. "In examining the application, we wanted to be certain that this transaction is consistent with the policies set out in the Broadcasting Act and beneficial to the Canadian broadcasting system as a whole." Under the terms of the deal, ownership of Alliance Assets will be split between a CanWest subsidiary called CanWest Investments and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. CanWest is contractually committed to merge its existing broadcasting properties into CanWest Investments by 2011.