Bidding War for Acquisition of Valley Cable Appears Over

The bidding war for Standard Broadcasting, the corporate parent of Chatsworth-based Valley Cable TV, appeared Tuesday to have been won by the company that offered to buy the Toronto-based media firm before the takeover battle began.

The apparent winner, Slaight Communications, is expected to acquire the 49% controlling interest held in Standard Broadcasting by Hollinger Argus Ltd. for $22 (Canadian) a share. Hollinger Argus, based in Toronto, announced that it rejected a late competing bid of $24 (Canadian) a share from Selkirk Communications, the other Canadian suitor.

Standard Broadcasting officials said they believe Selkirk Communications has now run out of options for trying to block Slaight Communications’ acquisition of their company.

“That would appear to be the end of it,” said Larry Nichols, the president and chief operating officer of Standard Broadcasting.

Daily Operations Unaffected

Valley Cable officials said day-to-day operations at the company, which serves 56,800 subscribers in the western San Fernando Valley and the City of San Fernando, have not been affected by the competition to acquire their corporate parent.

Hollinger Argus executives said they accepted the lower offer from Slaight Communications because of a tentative agreement they reached with Slaight in May. They said the legal cost of pulling out of that agreement would more than offset the higher price of Selkirk Communications’ bid.

Hollinger Argus also said it wanted to end the uncertainty in the Canadian stock market and among Standard Broadcasting executives caused by the competing offers.

At current exchange rates, the Slaight Communications offer for all of Standard Broadcasting’s 5.9 million shares is worth $95 million in U. S. dollars.

Approval of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission still is required before Slaight Communications’ acquisition of Standard Broadcasting can be completed. The commission is scheduled to vote on the issue in October.

Has Option to Sell Operation

Even if Slaight Communications acquires Standard Broadcasting, Valley Cable will not necessarily wind up in Slaight’s hands. Under Slaight Communications’ agreement with Hollinger Argus, it has the option to sever Valley Cable from the rest of Standard Broadcasting and sell the cable operation back.

Executives involved in the bidding have said they wanted the option to sell Valley Cable largely because of its heavy debt and history of losses since going into business in 1981.

Officials of Slaight Communications, a Toronto-based media company that owns two radio stations and a billboard company, and Selkirk Communications, a much larger Toronto company with diverse broadcasting and cable-television interests, could not be reached for comment.

In an attempt to block the acquisition by its rival, Selkirk Communications made the last of its three bids for Standard Broadcasting on Tuesday. It offered to drop a previous condition that made the offer contingent on approval by the Canadian government.