A Canadian regulator on Thursday approved a revised takeover bid by telecom and media giant BCE for pay television and radio operator Astral Media.
In the new proposal, there remained “a significant risk that BCE could exert its market power to limit choice and competition,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
But, he added, BCE has agreed to checks on its market domination, as well as to invest Can$246.9 million (US$235.6) in new Canadian programming, in order to obtain approval for the deal.
The original Can$3.38 billion (US$3.22 billion) cash-and-stock deal unveiled in March 2012 would have firmed BCE, owner of Bell Canada, as the country’s biggest media giant.
But the CRTC denied the takeover bid in October of that year, saying it “placed significant market power in the hands of” BCE.
This would have created the potential for BCE to exert unfair market power and hinder competition, the CRTC said at the time.
BCE already controls numerous television and radio services, as well as a national broadcasting distribution service. It is the largest Internet service provider in Canada, the second largest wireless service provider and the third largest television distributor.
According to the CRTC, the old deal would have given BCE a combined 42.7 percent of English-language viewership in Canada, and made it the leader in French-language media in Quebec province.
Under the revised terms, BCE agreed to sell 10 radio stations and 11 television services, keep open all of its local television stations, including two stations it acquires from Astral, at least until 2017, and other restrictions.
Following divestiture, BCE’s share of the Canada’s English-language television market will be 35.8 percent and 22.6 percent of the French-language television market.
Canadian regulator approves BCE takeover of Astral
