The Ontario court overseeing the restructuring of Canwest Global Communications Corp. ruled Tuesday in favour of the company and changes it made to the ownership structure of its prized specialty television assets.
U.S. investment bank had Goldman Sachs had wanted the court to overturn a move by Canwest to shut down the numbered company that housed the specialty TV assets that both companies held a stake in.
However, Ontario Superior Court Justice Sarah Pepall dismissed the request in a written decision released late Tuesday.
The lucrative specialty channels, which include HGTV, Showcase and Diva, were acquired by the two companies from Alliance Atlantis in 2007 as part of a joint agreement.
At a hearing last week, Goldman Sachs accused Canwest of breaking the terms of that deal and asked the court to force Canwest to reform the numbered company, which would ensure the channels would remain separate from the rest of Canwest’s assets.
The specialty channel division was not one of the pieces of Canwest that filed for creditor protection when the conglomerate could not meet repayment obligations for $4 billion in debt.
The divisions included under creditor protection are Canwest Television Limited Partnership, which holds Global Television, MovieTime, DejaView and Fox Sports World.
The filing did not include Canwest companies that hold the urban dailies–including the National Post, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal and Ottawa Citizen–and the specialty channels.
