CanWest Sells Community Papers to Transcontinental

Posted on July 19, 2002

CanWest Global Communications Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement with G.T.C. Transcontinental Group Ltd. (Transcontinental) for the sale to Transcontinental of all CanWest's community newspapers and related assets in Atlantic Canada and Saskatchewan for a cash price of $255 million. Completion of the transaction is conditional on Competition Bureau approval and is expected to close in mid-August.

Properties sold to Transcontinental include daily papers such as the Halifax Daily News, Charlottetown Guardian, St. John's Telegram, New Glasgow Evening News, Cape Breton Post, Truro Daily News, Prince Albert Daily Herald, and Moose Jaw Times Herald. The transaction also includes other weeklies, monthlies, shoppers and insert publications, as well as commercial printing operations in Prince Edward Island and Saskatoon.

Commenting on the transaction, Leonard Asper, CanWest's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The transaction is a good deal for both buyer and seller. The agreed price reflects fair value for these excellent publications and related assets. The sale is consistent with our previously announced intention to divest non-core, non-strategic community newspapers. While valuable assets in their own right, the properties were not central to the Company's overall media integration strategy."