On Friday, March 15, Corus Entertainment Inc. received clearance from the Competition Bureau, with the issuance of the appropriate no action letter, to proceed with the transactions between Corus and Bell. Pursuant to these transactions, Corus will acquire the 50% remaining ownership interest in TELETOON which includes the services TELETOON, Télétoon (French), TELETOON Retro, Télétoon Rétro (French) and Cartoon Network (Canada), 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.
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. All of the foregoing transactions require approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
Corus will also acquire from Shaw Media the remaining 49% interest in the successful specialty service ABC Spark and Corus will sell its 20% interest in Food Network Canada to Shaw Media.
"Clearance from the Competition Bureau is very positive news and is the first step in the completion of these transformational transactions for Corus," said John Cassaday, President and Chief Executive Officer, Corus Entertainment. "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."