Sirius privatization plan gets final OK from CRTC

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. received the final nod required in its bid to privatize, with the CRTC granting its approval Wednesday for the transaction it said was worth $479 million. The deal is in the public interest, the CRTC said in its decision, as Sirius provides service to about 2.7 million Canadian subscribers and distributes about 140,000 hours of Canadian programming every year. “In the Commission’s view, the transaction would ensure the sustainability of satellite radio in Canada for the foreseeable future and would ensure that Canadian consumers continue to benefit from the service as well as from future service enhancements,” the decision said. “The Canadian broadcasting system would also continue to benefit from the elements of diversity, coverage and monetary support that the Commission highlighted when it first licensed satellite radio in Canada.” However, there is enough of a change in ownership that as part of its approval, the CRTC is imposing tangible benefits. It’s directing the company to provide almost $24 million over the next seven years to support “French and English-language initiatives through: Radio Starmaker Fund, Fonds Radiostar, FACTOR, Musicaction and the Community Radio Fund of Canada,” the CRTC said in a press release. It also called for one per cent of the transaction’s value, $4.79 million, to be contributed “to the Broadcast Participation Fund, or, alternatively, Sirius XM Canada must submit a proposal for the Commission’s review.” The satellite radio provider first announced its bid to go private last May, receiving approval last summer from its shareholders and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Sirius said the proposal should be viewed as a corporate reorganization, according to the CRTC’s decision, but the regulator identified enough changes to the ownership structure and construction of its board that it determined “that the proposed transaction would result in a change of effective control.” Under the private structure, the company will continue to operate under Canadian control, with its U.S. division, Sirius XM Holdings, holding one-third of the voting share, while two Canadian entities, Slaight Communications Inc. and Obelysk Inc., equally split the remaining shares. CBC/Radio-Canada will no longer be a financial shareholder under the privatization plan.

Sirius privatization plan gets final OK from CRTC

Brief | April 26, 2017

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Sirius privatization plan gets final OK from CRTC

Brief | April 26, 2017

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