Canwest Bankrupt
- Thread starter SkyRider
- Start date
Yeah, Conrad Black got a ton of money out of the Aspers for Southam and the National post.
It's only inevitable that there will be a consolidation in the Newspaper Industry since the Internet is wiping out newspapers.
I laughed when I heard that the Asper kids were putting in 15 million to help finance the new company.
What's that, about 0.0001 percet of what they owe?
Good thing old Israel isn't alive to see this one.
It's only inevitable that there will be a consolidation in the Newspaper Industry since the Internet is wiping out newspapers.
I laughed when I heard that the Asper kids were putting in 15 million to help finance the new company.
What's that, about 0.0001 percet of what they owe?
Good thing old Israel isn't alive to see this one.
I think this was the deal that eventually put Conrad Black in jail. Apparently, he asked Canwest to pay a $X "non-compete" fee to him personally rather than to the public company that owned the assets that were sold.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/06/canwest-bankruptcy.html
... well, whatever they wanna call it.
The National Post is likely to disappear pretty quickly, it is a huge sink hole of money. The rest of the newspaper assets will very likely be liquidated off at firesale prices, and even that is probably more than they will be worth 5 years from now.
The real concern comes in television.
http://www.canwestglobal.com/brands/default.asp
Global, HGTV, History Television, TVTropolis, Food, Showcase, Slice, Fiva, Action, National Geographic, Mystery, MOvietime, IFC, BBC Canada, Dejaview, Discovery Health, BBC Kids, Fox Sports World - all of these channels are owned by this single entity. The concentration of media outlets in Canada is disturbing, almost to the level like the US card companies, "too big to fail". Canwest shutting the doors would remove a local newspaper in almost every major Canadian market, and would remove about 30% of the cable offerings in Canada. It would also eliminate much of the current production of television shows for this medium.
With Bell, Astral Media, and a very few other companies owning pretty much the whole shootng match, the CRTC has allowed Canadian media to become so intertwined and so turned in on itself that a single company failure could have massive implications. Remember, the CRTC enforces ratios between US and Canadian channels (which is why your programming is in packages, not free choice, because they have to pay in ratio as well!). Drop a significant number of Canadian channels, and a like number of US networks would have to disappear as well.
This is a disaster that needs addressing, the CRTC should agressively enforce ownership limitations to avoid this happening again in the future.
The real concern comes in television.
http://www.canwestglobal.com/brands/default.asp
Global, HGTV, History Television, TVTropolis, Food, Showcase, Slice, Fiva, Action, National Geographic, Mystery, MOvietime, IFC, BBC Canada, Dejaview, Discovery Health, BBC Kids, Fox Sports World - all of these channels are owned by this single entity. The concentration of media outlets in Canada is disturbing, almost to the level like the US card companies, "too big to fail". Canwest shutting the doors would remove a local newspaper in almost every major Canadian market, and would remove about 30% of the cable offerings in Canada. It would also eliminate much of the current production of television shows for this medium.
With Bell, Astral Media, and a very few other companies owning pretty much the whole shootng match, the CRTC has allowed Canadian media to become so intertwined and so turned in on itself that a single company failure could have massive implications. Remember, the CRTC enforces ratios between US and Canadian channels (which is why your programming is in packages, not free choice, because they have to pay in ratio as well!). Drop a significant number of Canadian channels, and a like number of US networks would have to disappear as well.
This is a disaster that needs addressing, the CRTC should agressively enforce ownership limitations to avoid this happening again in the future.
Like anything else, if the components are making money, you probably won't see them disappear.
All this means is that the creditors will get pennies on the dollar, the common share holders will get completely screwed and the company comes out smelling like a rose.
It may be the end of the Aspers however, since their shares will be worthless as well and the only reason Lenny was in there in the first place was good old fashioned Canadian Nepotism (Magna, Bombardier, take your pick). Now that their holdings have theoretically been wiped out, I'd be amazed if they kept their jobs. (You never know though, they're probably pretty crafty.) Bear in mind that they will still have their own personal fortune which no-one can touch. (Ask Reichmanns about that little trick
)
All this means is that the creditors will get pennies on the dollar, the common share holders will get completely screwed and the company comes out smelling like a rose.
It may be the end of the Aspers however, since their shares will be worthless as well and the only reason Lenny was in there in the first place was good old fashioned Canadian Nepotism (Magna, Bombardier, take your pick). Now that their holdings have theoretically been wiped out, I'd be amazed if they kept their jobs. (You never know though, they're probably pretty crafty.) Bear in mind that they will still have their own personal fortune which no-one can touch. (Ask Reichmanns about that little trick
)nope.....it's another classic lesson that intelligence skips every other generation.
Like anything else, if the components are making money, you probably won't see them disappear.
All this means is that the creditors will get pennies on the dollar, the common share holders will get completely screwed and the company comes out smelling like a rose.
It may be the end of the Aspers however, since their shares will be worthless as well and the only reason Lenny was in there in the first place was good old fashioned Canadian Nepotism (Magna, Bombardier, take your pick). Now that their holdings have theoretically been wiped out, I'd be amazed if they kept their jobs. (You never know though, they're probably pretty crafty.) Bear in mind that they will still have their own personal fortune which no-one can touch. (Ask Reichmanns about that little trick
The problem is, based on news stories I have read, is that not only are they crushed under a big debt load, but in fact many of the pieces are not making any operating profits. The newspapers are generally in trouble, and much of the broadcast network is at best a break even business. Just as importantly, each of those channels I listed before is still facing the "switch to HD" in 2011, so every one of them is going to have to borrow and reinvest in studio equipment, editing equipment, and in the case of the broadcast TV channels, to all move to HD transmitters.
I really think that this is what is going to happen - and this is my own opinion, not based on any hard facts or insider knowledge, just my take:
1) The newspapers will get broken off and sold cheap. The National Post will likely cease, as it has been proven there is not enough of an ad market to support it.
2) The Global network will be broken off by itself, either retain or sold.
3) The cable properties will be sold or partnerships ended. There is potential that some of them may not make it back. However, the cable properties are often the most profitable, due to carriage regulations to the cable and sat companies, and the rates they have to pay to the channels to carry them.
4) The Canwest production group will likely be sold to third parties or closed out altogether.
The result? Canwest Global will likely end up as the Global network and maybe a small minority interest in the cable properties. Production of Canwest productions will be outsourced, with CWG agreeing to certain contracting terms to buy those shows for their channels.
The fear? Having companies like Bell, CTVglobemedia, or Astral ending up owning MORE of the cable channels. Already ownership is limited, and bringing it in even further would truly suck.
No government bailout for CanWest? Probably not, with the Conservatives in power. The Aspers are staunch Liberals.
Wonder if Robert Lantos will surface somewhere in this process. The guy looks like a bloody genius. Selling at the top of the market for $2.3 billion.
Wonder if Robert Lantos will surface somewhere in this process. The guy looks like a bloody genius. Selling at the top of the market for $2.3 billion.
Terrible attitude. If we let the market decide, then a large part of Canada will never get any radio or TV, there simply is not the population density to support it. Further, Canadian content would fall to almost zero. Like it or not, the media is very important in the transmission of cultural norms. We would be giving up any independent direction and importing American culture and ideals.
Without the CBC and CanCon, we would run the risk of becoming another US state within 2 generations.
Agreed. We need a strictly business paper like the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times. Hopefully, this paper will print all the stock and option listings.
Yap, It took decades for Izzy to build it up out of nothing but it took few years for the son to fuck it up. These Ivy league educated morons don't understand the first thing about building wealth. All they got thought was to merge and aquire thru credit, today he learned an old concept for when the M&A goes sour, to Bend Over!
I agree, these Ivy League guys, are daft to the pulse of the real world, and unless they are poor, smart and hungry, or have that instinct instilled in them, even if they are rich, they will continue to fu,ck up the worlds econcomies.
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