Are foreigners buying our Media?

[OpenMike]

"U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is providing most of the money for the deal. As a result, the Alliance takeover is being watched closely - perhaps more than any other media deal in recent memory - for the precedent it could set for foreign ownership."

Delay boosts odds of deal for CanWest
Alliance purchase risked being overturned
GRANT ROBERTSON

MEDIA REPORTER

September 3, 2007

One of the biggest Canadian media takeovers in years risked being halted in its tracks if federal regulators went ahead this week with public hearings into CanWest Global Communications Corp.'s $2.3-billion buyout of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., sources have revealed.

In a controversial move, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided last week to delay public hearings into the Alliance takeover, which were scheduled to begin Wednesday, fearing that opponents would have legal grounds to overturn the eventual ruling.

The unusual decision has prompted much speculation within the industry over what the unexpected postponement could mean for the fate of the deal.




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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... y/Business

[jon]

The whole "foreign ownership" issue in this deal is laughable. Even if the paperwork is messed up and CanWest accidentally loses the majority control it claims to have, all the government has to do is order Goldman Sachs to sell, like they did with General Tire/RKO at CKLW in the 1970s.

Do you think that every Canadian media owner has the majority of its financing from Canadian sources? Don't make me laugh.

CTV's interventions just sound like a frightened competitor trying to slow the deal down.