Canadian incumbent BCE, commonly known as Bell, has resubmitted its proposal to buy Astral Media to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
In October the CRTC blocked Bell’s proposed C$3.38bn (US$3.41bn) acquisition of…
Canadian incumbent BCE, commonly known as Bell, has resubmitted its proposal to buy Astral Media to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
In October the CRTC blocked Bell’s proposed C$3.38bn (US$3.41bn) acquisition of broadcaster Astral due to antitrust and diversity concerns.
BCE currently owns a number of television and radio services, as well as a national broadcasting distributor. It is also the largest ISP, the second largest wireless service provider and the third largest television distributor. The CRTC was reluctant to give the company any more size and scale.
Following the government’s refusal to get involved in the issue on behalf of Bell, the company has now amended its submission to the CRTC in a bid to address its concerns. The company said it has improved its remedies package.
Bell has also recalculated how it measures viewership in line with the CRTC’s method. It has also outlined the steps it and Astral would take to comply with viewership thresholds.
“We heard Canadians and the CRTC loud and clear – they want assurance that Astral joining with Bell Media will directly benefit consumers and creators,” said Bell’s CEO George Cope.
“We’re ready to deliver more choice for listeners and viewers, more opportunity for content creators, and more competition for the broadcasting industry.”
To allow time for the new regulatory review the companies have once again pushed back the closing date, this time to 1 June 2013. Originally the companies had expected to close in late 2012.
Astral’s board of directors also announced a cash dividend of C$0.50 per share on its class A and B shares payable in February.
The financial terms of the agreement have remained the same.
