Bell’s Clearance for Astral Purchase Comes with Provisions

MONTREAL/OTTAWA: The Canadian Competition Bureau has cleared the way for the proposed Bell-Astral merger, though Bell must first divest a number of Astral’s ownership interests in such channels as Teletoon and Disney XD.

Corus Entertainment has agreed to pay C$440.6 million ($494 million) for two radio stations and six joint-venture TV channels, including the bilingual Teletoon/Télétoon service, English-language Teletoon Retro and Cartoon Network (Canada), and French-language Télétoon Rétro, Historia and Séries+. In a separate transaction, Corus entered into an agreement with Shaw Media that will result in it acquiring the remaining 49-percent interest in ABC Spark. As part of the agreement, Corus will sell its 20-percent interest in Food Network Canada to Shaw Media.

Bell will also sell the English-language Family (including Disney Junior English) and Disney XD services, and the French-language Disney Junior, Musimax and MusiquePlus services, through an auction process that is now under way. The consent agreement also contains restrictions such as prohibition on imposing restrictive bundling requirements on any provider seeking to carry The Movie Network or Super Écran.

Bell still needs to get separate regulatory approval from CRTC, which denied an earlier application to acquire Astral on competition grounds.

"Competition Bureau clearance is a key milestone in the progress of our transaction and reflects Astral and Bell’s commitment to making sure that the consumer always comes first," said Ian Greenberg, the president and CEO of Astral. "Together, Astral and Bell Media will have the scale to invest, compete and deliver on the opportunities ahead for all Canadians in this rapidly changing media landscape and I look forward to continuing to work in close collaboration with Bell’s team towards securing CRTC approval for the transaction."

"The commitment to broadcasting investment and innovation by Astral and Bell Media, and Corus’s further expansion into the Québec marketplace, underscores the growing competitiveness in the Canadian broadcasting industry," said Kevin Crull, the president of Bell Media. "We now look forward to demonstrating the many benefits of the transaction to the CRTC and all Canadians."

"This positive news from the Competition Bureau is a major step forward in uniting Astral and Bell Media and delivering on our promise to grow investment and competition in Canadian broadcasting," added George Cope, the president and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada. "This decision preserves the tremendous value the transaction represents to consumers, the Canadian media community, and Astral and Bell shareholders."