Shaw interested in some of Canwest's assets
The chief executive officer of Shaw Communication Inc. (TSX:SJR.B) confirmed Thursday that his company has been looking at buying some of Canwest’s assets, although he wouldn’t say what has caught his interest.
Jim Shaw told reporters after the firm’s annual meeting in Calgary that he has met with the Asper family, who run Winnipeg-based Canwest Global Communications (TSXV:CGS).
Shaw declined to specify which particular Canwest assets might be of interest.
“I’d call it exploring right now. There’s no deal or anything,” Shaw told reporters.
There have been reports that Shaw is among the top four most likely buyers for some or all of Canwest, which is under pressure by Canada’s major banks and other creditors to deal with its heavy debts and unpaid interest payments.
There are a “whole bunch” of different options that Shaw could weigh — one being potentially putting some equity into Canwest.
“Maybe there’s ways we could work together to make everybody better,” said Shaw. Another potential contender for at least some of Canwest is Toronto-based Corus Entertainment Corp. (TSX:CJR.B), which was spun off from Shaw several years ago.
The CEO of Corus, which owns specialty cable channels, radio stations and other entertainment businesses, said Wednesday his company would be interested in a select number of Canwest’s specialty cable channels but not the whole company.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (TSX:FFH), a Toronto-based company that invested heavily in Canwest in the past and the Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group are also reputed to be top possible bidders.
Most of Canwest is operating under court protection from its creditors. Among its assets are the National Post and other newspapers, the Global Television network and several specialty cable television channels.
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