Several bids to purchase the financially troubled TQS French-language television network could come forward but there are none currently on the table, a Quebec judge was told Wednesday before he granted a 45-day extension of creditor protection.
Of the nine different groups that have signed confidentiality agreements to access information, two have submitted letters of interest. A third is expected by Friday with others remaining a possibility, said Yves Vincent of court-appointed monitor RSM Richter.
Contrary to published reports, however, no bids have yet been received.
“There are no bids on the table,” TQS spokesman Gilles Corriveau said in an interview. “There have been no bids deposited with the parties, nothing of that nature.”
On Tuesday, Montreal La Presse reported that Rogers Communications will buy TQS’s TV stations in Montreal and Quebec City, while Radio Nord will add TQS regional stations to the ones it manages in Outaouais and Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Que.
Rogers declined to comment on the report and Radio Nord denied its intention to purchase the stations.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Pierre Journet extended creditor protection until Feb. 29 to give TQS and its monitor time to receive official bids and conclude a transaction. The judge will hear an update on Feb. 21 in Montreal.
TQS, majority-owned by Montreal-based Cogeco Inc., was placed under creditor protection last month. CTVglobemedia owns the remaining 40%.
TQS has more than 600 employees and said it has about 12% of Quebec’s francophone TV viewing market.
The company, which has been trying to address its financial problems for months, said it is a victim of circumstances beyond its control.
These include lost advertising revenue to specialty channels and content on the Internet, the CRTC’s refusal to let general television networks charge fees for signal distribution, programming competition from CBC’s French-language service, and the Crown corporation’s plans to end its affiliation in August with three regional stations.
