Canada’s Rogers May Spin Off Media Unit

Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s biggest cable company and a publisher of magazines including Canadian Business and Maclean’s, may spin off its media unit to shareholders if the government relaxes foreign ownership restrictions, Chairman Ted Rogers said. Rogers told reporters at the company’s annual general meeting in Toronto that he expects the government to ease rules barring U.S. companies from owning more than 20% of Canadian cable or telecommunications companies by 2003, although media companies probably will remain restricted to Canadian owners. If Rogers’ prediction comes true, the company’s media business would limit the parent company’s ability to attract partners and raise capital in the U.S. As a result, Rogers is “actively considering” making its media unit a separate, public company, he said.