Canada's Astral Media Inc. to aquire Standard Radio
Monday, February 26, 2007
Canadian Astral Media Inc. will buy out Standard Radio Inc., which runs many radio stations in Canada. Standard Radio Inc. is the largest privately owned multimedia company in Canada.
Montreal based Astral Media Inc. will buy all of the assets from Standard Radio Inc. for about CAN$1.2-billion. Standard Radio Inc.'s 52 radio stations, and Astral's 29, will be brought together by Astral Media Inc. This will give Astral 81 radio stations in total. This makes Astral the largest radio operator in Canada of FM and AM radio.
"With the acquisition of Standard Radio, Astral Media will not only be acquiring the best performing radio stations in the country, we will at the same time acquire a company with similar values and culture. said Ian Greenberg, President and CEO of Astral Media.
"Over the past four decades the Slaight family has built a remarkable collection of strong radio brands and has contributed meaningfully in shaping the Canadian radio industry as we know it today. We are delighted with the prospect of welcoming Standard Radio's employees into our team."
Gary Slaight, President and CEO of Standard Radio also commented on the deal.
"We are looking forward to becoming a part of the Astral Media family," said Gary Slaight, President and CEO of Standard Radio. "We are pleased to see our legacy live on with a company such as Astral that has such a strong track record and commitment to its employees and to the Canadian radio and television industries."
All of Astral's radio stations are run in Quebec and Atlantic Canada and it also runs various television stations across Canada. Astral also has two french channels that broadcast on Sirius satellite radio Canada.
The company hopes to finalize the deal in or before April.
Sources
edit- Grant Robertson. "Astral fine-tunes details of Standard purchase" — Globe and mail, February 26, 2007
- Surya Bhattacharya. "Astral confirms talks with radio rival" — Toronto Star, February 24, 2007
- "Astral Media announces signature of letter of intent to acquire Standard Radio" — CanadaNewsWire, February 23, 2007