Shaw Communications to buy 20 per cent stake in Canwest

Canadian cable-TV producer Shaw Communications Inc. has agreed to buy at least 20 per cent stake in Canwest Global Communications Corp., the newspaper and TV company, saying that the acquisition of shares will give effective control of a restructured Canwest'' .

However, the company has not disclosed the deal amount.

In a statement today, the company that owns Shaw Cable and the StarChoice satellite TV service said.
 
Winnipeg-based Canwest, which owns the Global television network and one of Canada's largest newspaper chains - including the National Post - and several specialty cable channels,  was filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2009 after the global recession led to a slump in advertising revenue.

The company owes billions of dollars to creditors and has been operating under court supervision since last year.

Canwest says the proposed deal with Shaw has the support of key creditors.

As part of the restructuring, Canwest and certain of its subsidiaries filed for creditor protection under the companies' creditors arrangement act via a pre-packaged arrangement on 6 October 2009 and Canwest, through its financial advisor, solicited Canadian interest regarding a possible equity investment in a Restructured Canwest.