Scotiabank now Canada's biggest publisher (Canwest bankruptcy)

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

Call them the accidental publishers: Bank of Nova Scotia is now the largest owner of newspapers in Canada, and seems likely to hold that unintended role for some time.

Lenders took control of CanWest L.P. on Friday, a long-expected move at the debt-heavy chain, as the company filed for protection from creditors. Scotiabank is the lead player among senior lenders to this subsidiary of CanWest Global Communications, so the bank has the honour of running this process. (The parent company filed for creditor protection last year.)

... In the absence of any other offer for the chain, which includes 11 big-city papers and a host of community publications, the creditors swap their loans for equity, and run the company. Scotiabank and the other senior lenders are expected to get 100 cents on the dollar for the debts, while the outcome is far less certain for junior creditors.

... The problem is, no one is buying the entire chain. Sources close to both CanWest and other Canadian media companies say regional players may have an interest in one or two papers in the chain - Montreal and Ottawa, for example - but there is no buyer for the whole lot.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/streetwise/scotiabank-now-canadas-biggest-publisher/article1423962/

[Spazito]

1. Good! CanWest was a vehicle to publish right wing crap....

De-centralizing the media again can only be of benefit to Canadians, imo. Break it up into pieces, go back to individual ownership of various newspapers, etc.

I am very pleased CanWest didn't succeed.

[polly7]

3. Awesome news.

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Prometheus Bound]

2. Very good that this hugely influential newspaper chain will likely be broken up.

National Post
Montreal Gazette
Ottawa Citizen
Calgary Herald
Edmonton Journal
Victoria Times-Colonist
Vancouver Sun
Vancouver Province
Canada.com

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. So is this only the newspaper chain, or does this include their TV networks also?

In any case it's good news that "no one is buying the entire chain". Nobody should, now or ever. Media companies need to be smaller, not bigger. If only the same could be done to Murdoch's media empire. Or Disney's. Or Clear Channel.

[Spazito]

5. It is only for the 'publishing' arm of CanWest Media Inc. but...

the television arm is under creditor protection at this time and has yet to succeed in a recapitalization so I have hopes the television arm will also go the way of CLP and be broken up.

Canwest publishing group up for sale after filing


Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=2420231#ixzz0c3LSTBFB
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The bid, which went before the courts today as part of a larger filing, is for Canwest Limited Partnership, which holds The National Post, 10 major city dailies -- Victoria Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver's The Province, Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Herald, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal's The Gazette -- as well as 26 community newspapers, and associated online and mobile properties.


Meanwhile, CMI, which holds Global Television and some specialty channels such as TVtropolis, Mystery TV and Men TV, has been under creditor protection since Oct. 6 as it too continues to pursue a recapitalization with its own set of senior lenders and debtholders. The filing did not affect Canwest's stable of specialty channels acquired from Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.

http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=2420231