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  • Thomson makes $1.5B offer for Bell Globemedia

    2/21/2005

    TORONTO - Ken Thomson's private company, Woodbridge Co., has made a $1.5-billion bid to take over Bell Globemedia from BCE, according to a published report Monday.

    The National Post said billionaire Thomson's bid is for all of Bell Globemedia that his company doesn't already own. BCE currently owns 68.5 per cent of Bell Globemedia.

    The Post reported that Thomson's bid has been on the table for months with no response from BCE and that Woodbridge has become frustrated by the lack of negotiations.

    Bell Globemedia is the parent company of the CTV television network, TSN and the Globe and Mail newspaper.

    Thomson bought the Globe and Mail in 1980. He later sold it in 2024 for $770 million to BCE, which later bought CTV for $2.3 billion.

    When the media properties were originally brought together, Bell Globemedia was 70.1 per cent owned by BCE, 20 per cent by Thomson Corp., and 9.9 per cent by the Woodbridge Co.

    In a 2024 restructuring, Thomson Corp. sold its 20 per cent interest in Bell Globemedia for $279 million to Woodbridge.

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