CanWest to Acquire Hollinger Media Assets

CanWest Global Communications Corp., Canada’s third-largest television network, announced a $2.4-billion deal to acquire most of the Canadian newspaper, magazine and Internet assets from media baron Conrad Black. CanWest will pay $1.49 billion in cash, stock valued at about $318 million and a 10-year subordinated debenture of about $473 million for the lion’s share of Hollinger International’s Canadian assets. The deal includes 13 large metropolitan English-language dailies, a 50% stake in the flagship National Post, about 136 daily and weekly newspapers and shoppers in smaller communities and all Hollinger and Southam Magazine Internet properties. Hollinger, which is Canada’s largest newspaper publisher, said in April it wanted to sell its smaller papers and was open to other deals to rescue its foundering stock price and cut debt. Hollinger’s empire of daily newspapers also includes Britain’s Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun-Times. CanWest shares closed up 69 cents at $12.31; Hollinger rose $1.63 to close at $16.25. Both trade on the New York Stock Exchange.