TORONTO — An Ontario judge has allowed Canwest Global Communications to move its money-losing National Post into the division that runs its other papers, which Canwest says is its best hope of saving the newspaper.
Justice Sarah Pepall, who is overseeing Canwest’s restructuring, allowed the move of the newspaper into the Canwest Limited Partnership after the company and its creditors reached a deal on the transaction earlier this week.
Canwest Limited Partnership is not among divisions of the company operating under court protection from creditors.
A lawyer for Canwest emphasized the urgency of the decision, saying that not only would the move allow the National Post to keep operating, it was essential to a successful restructuring of the whole company.
“The business of the National Post and the LP entities (other Canwest newspapers and media outlets) are highly integrated and interdependent,” said Lyndon Barnes. “Without these agreements, the ability to restructure either of these entities is in doubt.”
Barnes told the court that the National Post was also valuable to the rest of Canwest’s newspaper assets, partly because each relies on the other for various operations, including news content and ultimately saves money for the smaller newspapers.
“They’re inseparable,” he said.