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Corus receives CRTC approval to go ahead with recapitalization transaction

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The new Corus logo at Corus Quay in Toronto is photographed on Friday, June 22, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

TORONTO — Struggling media company Corus Entertainment Inc. has received a lifeline.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission today granted regulatory approval for a recapitalization plan that would see a change in ownership and shift effective control of all licensed programming services operated by the company and its subsidiaries.

Corus had indicated to the CRTC that the proposed deal is necessary to address its high debt load and improve its financial stability so it can continue to operate.

Under the proposal, first announced in November, some of Corus’s lenders forgive approximately $500 million in debt in exchange for 99 per cent ownership of a newly created parent corporation, called NewCo, that would wholly own Corus and its services.

Existing Corus shareholders would be expected to swap their holdings for shares that together would represent the remaining one per cent of the new company.

Corus says its business is expected to continue as normal with no anticipated effect on its obligations to clients, producers, suppliers or employees.

The company announced in February it would seek court approval for the recapitalization deal that after a shareholder vote on the proposal failed to pass.

In March, Corus received an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to proceed with its recapitalization plan.

The company says it expects the recapitalization transaction to close in the coming weeks, pending other conditions and customary approvals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2026

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press