Canadian Competition Bureau Clears Alliance Atlantis Sale

TORONTO, April 23: The Canadian Competition Bureau has given
its clearance to the $2.05 billion sale of Alliance Atlantis Communications to
CanWest Global Communications and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.

Alliance Atlantis shareholders cleared the C$53/share
agreement earlier this month. A separate fairness hearing related to the Motion
Picture Income Distribution Fund is set for the Ontario Superior Court next
month and the deal is expected to close in late July or early August. Once the
transaction is completed, Alliance Atlantis’s specialty TV division will be
merged with that of CanWest’s. A subsidiary of Goldman will own the rights to
the CSI franchise, which is then set to
be distributed by CBS Corporation.