TORONTO and MONTREAL – Corus Radio is officially exiting the Quebec radio market.
The company said this morning it has reached an agreement with Cogeco Inc. for Cogeco to purchase the Corus Quebec radio stations: Montreal French (CKOI 96,9, 98,5, CKAC Sports – including CKAC’s digital licence), Montreal English (The Q 92.5), Quebec City (102,9 Souvenirs Garantis, CKOI 102,1), Gatineau (104,7 Souvenirs Garantis), Sherbrooke (107,7 Souvenirs Garantis, CKOI 104,5), Trois-Rivières (106,9 Souvenirs Garantis), St-Jérôme (CIME 103,9) for approximately $80 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
“Corus Entertainment has made the strategic decision to divest of its Corus Quebec radio stations and focus on brands in our television division and our Ontario and Western Canadian radio stations,” said John Cassaday, president and CEO, Corus Entertainment, in a press release.
“We are pleased with the opportunity to pursue the development of these radio stations for the benefit of members of the Quebec community in which we have grown, in particular in broadcasting, for the last 53 years,” said Cogeco president and CEO Louis Audet.
Corus Entertainment will continue to own and operate the stations until the transaction closes.
The deal will make Cogeco’s radio division dramatically bigger as the company runs five RYTHME FM branded stations in Montréal, Québec City, Trois-Rivières
and Sherbrooke.
“The Corus radio stations are a natural fit with Cogeco’s existing radio stations. The medium of radio continues to enjoy strong support both from listeners and advertisers because of the appeal of its local content. We believe these stations demonstrate good growth potential based on our experience and rigorous evaluation criteria,” added Audet.
Cogeco and Corus had already been working together selling ad time on their stations through their partnership called Groupe Force Radio.
Closing of the deal is expected by the end of 2010.
www.cogeco.com
www.corusent.com
