Corus Entertainment Expands Interests in French-language Specialty Television Market through Major Deals with Bell and Shaw
Corus Entertainment Expands Interests in French-language Specialty Television
Market through Major Deals with Bell and Shaw Media
PR Newswire
TORONTO, March 4, 2013
Acquisitions include TELETOON, Historia and Séries+; Ottawa-based Radio
Stations CKQB-FM and CJOT-FM; and ABC Spark
TORONTO, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B)
announced today that it has entered into a number of agreements with Bell and
separately with Shaw Media, that extends Corus' portfolio of Radio assets into
Ottawa, consolidates Corus' ownership of ABC Spark and TELETOON, and enables
Corus to become a significant media contributor in the Québec and the
French-language specialty television market.
Corus has reached an agreement with Bell to acquire the 50% remaining
ownership interest in TELETOON and two Ottawa-based radio stations, CKQB-FM
(The Bear 106.9) and CJOT-FM (boom 99.7), that Bell will acquire as part of
the acquisition of Astral Media Inc. pending regulatory approval. With these
acquisitions, TELETOON, Télétoon (French), TELETOON Retro, Télétoon Rétro
(French), Cartoon Network (Canada) and radio stations, CKQB-FM and CJOT-FM,
will be wholly owned by Corus. In addition, Corus has reached an agreement
with Bell and Shaw Media to acquire each of their respective 50% interests in
the French-language specialty channels Historia and Séries+. Certain
transactions are subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the Competition Bureau.
In a separate transaction, Corus has entered into an agreement with Shaw Media
that will result in Corus acquiring the remaining 49% interest in the
successful specialty television service ABC Spark from Shaw Media. As part of
the agreement, Corus will sell its 20% interest in Food Network Canada to Shaw
Media.
"These transactions represent a transformative opportunity for Corus," said
John Cassaday, President and Chief Executive Officer, Corus Entertainment.
"The consolidation of TELETOON and the addition of the popular services
Historia and Séries+ give Corus the scale to expand into the growing
French-language specialty television market. As a well-capitalized company,
Corus can contribute to the growth of this market and provide new
opportunities for the production community, while adding greater diversity to
the system and more choice to French-speaking audiences.
The addition of the Ottawa radio stations, CKQB-FM and CJOT-FM, has been a
long-standing goal and allows us to bring our skills and passion for radio to
another major Canadian market, while delivering exceptional programming and
local information to the Ottawa community. Finally, full ownership of ABC
Spark, based on the highly successful ABC Family channel in the U.S., and now
widely distributed across Canada, represents an excellent growth opportunity
for Corus."
The combined acquisition price for these assets is $494 million Cdn. The
overall transaction is valued at an LTM EBITDA multiple of 10.4x.
A conference call with Corus senior management to discuss these transactions
is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. ET. While this call is
directed at analysts and investors, members of the media are welcome to listen
in. The dial‐in number for the conference call for North America is
1.800.926.5230 and for local/international callers is 416.981.9020. PowerPoint
slides for the call will be posted 15 minutes prior to the start of the call
and can be found on the Corus Entertainment website at www.corusent.com in the
Investor Relations section.
About Corus Entertainment Inc.
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian-based media and entertainment company.
Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional
assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children's book publishing
and children's animation. The Company's multimedia entertainment brands
include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), ABC Spark, W Network, OWN: Oprah
Winfrey Network (Canada), CosmoTV, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central,
HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press, Toon Boom and 37 radio stations including
CKNW AM 980, 99.3 The FOX, Country 105, 630 CHED, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge.
Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences
across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange (CJR.B). Experience Corus on the web at
www.corusent.com.
This press release contains forward‐looking information and should be read
subject to the following cautionary language:
To the extent any statements made in this report contain information that is
not historical, these statements are forward‐looking statements and may be
forward‐looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws
(collectively, "forward‐looking statements"). These forward‐looking statements
related to, among other things, our objectives, goals, strategies, intentions,
plans, estimates and outlook, including advertising, distribution, merchandise
and subscription revenues, operating costs and tariffs, taxes and fees, and
can generally be identified by the use of the words such as "believe",
"anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may" and other similar
expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations,
projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are
forward‐looking statements. Although Corus believes that the expectations
reflected in such forward‐looking statements are reasonable, such statements
involve risks and uncertainties and undue reliance should not be placed on
such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making
forward‐looking statements, including without limitation factors and
assumptions regarding advertising, distribution, merchandise and subscription
revenues, operating costs and tariffs, taxes and fees and actual results may
differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
these expectations include, among other things: our ability to attract and
retain advertising revenues; audience acceptance of our television programs
and cable networks; our ability to recoup production costs, the availability
of tax credits and the existence of co‐production treaties; our ability to
compete in any of the industries in which we do business; the opportunities
(or lack thereof) that may be presented to and pursued by us; conditions in
the entertainment, information and communications industries and technological
developments therein; changes in laws or regulations or the interpretation or
application of those laws and regulations; our ability to integrate and
realize anticipated benefits from our acquisitions and to effectively manage
our growth; our ability to successfully defend ourselves against litigation
matters arising out of the ordinary course of business; and changes in
accounting standards. Additional information about these factors and about the
material assumptions underlying such forward‐looking statements may be found
in our Annual Information Form. Corus cautions that the foregoing list of
important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive.
When relying on our forward‐looking statements to make decisions with respect
to Corus, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors
and other uncertainties and potential events. Unless otherwise required by
applicable securities laws, we disclaim any intention or obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward looking statements whether as a result
of new information, events or circumstances that arise after the date thereof
or otherwise.
SOURCE Corus Entertainment Inc.
Contact:
Follow CorusPR on Twitter @CorusPR
For more information, please contact:
Sally Tindal
Director, Corporate Communications
Corus Entertainment
416.479.6107
sally.tindal@corusent.com
Annick Bélanger
Vice President
Casacom
514.286.2145
abélanger@casacom.ca
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