Court approves $1.1 billion sale of Canwest papers

On Monday, May 17, Canwest Global Communications announced it received court approval to move forward with the sale of its publishing division, Canwest Limited Partnership. The company has been selling off its assets in a restructuring process since last year, when it ran into trouble paying down a $4 billion debt. Now the company will sell its print and online media assets (which include the National Post, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen and a number of community newspapers and websites) to a group of creditors led by Post president and CEO Paul Godfrey for a total of $1.1 billion, including $950 million in cash.

The creditor purchase, intended to be finalized in mid-July, also includes an agreement that the newspapers will retain all full-time employees, and that there will be reductions of up to 10 per cent in part-time staff.

For more, visit: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100517/canwest-newspaper-sale-100517/20100517?hub=Canada