TORONTO – Corus Entertainment’s blockbuster bid to buy the media division of Shaw Communications has received shareholder approval.
According to a statement from Corus, its class B shareholders voted 78.52 per cent in favour of the $2.65-billion acquisition.
The company says the results of Wednesday’s vote still needs to be audited, but the successful result paves the way for a merger that will create a Canadian media powerhouse operating 45 cable channels including HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada and Showcase, the Global Television network and 39 radio stations. Shaw is the parent company of Global News.
“The endorsement from Corus shareholders ticks an important box in our next steps to closing the transaction,” Barb Williams, the head of Shaw Media, said in a memo to staff.
MORE: Corus to buy Shaw Media in $2.65B mega-merger
Next hurdle
The next hurdle will be approval from broadcast regulators. Corus hopes to receive a go-ahead from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission later this month.
One of its minority shareholders had attempted to block the vote but failed to win support from Ontario’s stock regulator.
Both Corus, which was spun off from Shaw in 1999, and Shaw Communications, are controlled by the Shaw family through their holdings of class A shares of both companies.
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