Hollinger International Sells Substantially All Remaining Canadian Assets for US$104 Million
January 11 2006 - 5:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hollinger International
Inc. (NYSE:HLR) and its Canadian affiliate, Hollinger Canadian
Publishing Holdings Co., have entered into an agreement to sell
substantially all of their remaining Canadian assets, consisting
of, among other things, approximately 87% of the outstanding Units
of Hollinger Canadian Newspapers, Limited Partnership ("HCNLP") and
all of the shares of Hollinger Canadian Newspapers GP Inc., Eco Log
Environmental Risk Information Services Ltd. and KCN Capital News
Company, to an affiliate of Glacier Ventures International Corp.
("Glacier") (TSX: GVC) for an aggregate purchase price of C$121.7
million, or US$104.4 million. HCNLP owns and operates: 1) the
Business Information Group ("BIG"), which publishes a variety of
trade magazines, directories, newsletters, electronic databases and
specialty websites, 2) a group of daily and weekly newspaper and
related printing operations in British Columbia, including the
Nelson Daily News, West Kootenay Weekender, Cranbrook Daily
Townsman, Kimberley Daily Bulletin, East Kootenay Weekly Extra,
East Kootenay Weekly Weekender, Trail Times, Fernie Free Press,
Grand Forks Gazette, Grand Forks Boundary Bulletin, Creston Valley
Advance, Kamloops Daily News, Kamloops The Extra, Prince George
Citizen, Prince George This Week, Prince George Extra, Alaska
Highway News, North Peace Express, The Northener, Peace River Block
News, The Regional Advertiser, The Northern Horizon, The Mirror,
Prince Rupert Daily News, and Prince Rupert Daily News Extra, 3)
the Real Estate Weekly and Kodiak Press in Vancouver, B.C., and 4)
The Sherbrooke Record and Brome County News in the eastern
townships of Quebec. KCN publishes the Merritt News and Merritt
News Extra in B.C. Eco Log is an electronic information and report
service provider that accesses key federal, provincial and private
sector databases to help identify potential environmental risks in
Canada for real estate developers, banks, insurance companies and a
variety of other customers. "With the transaction announced today,
we can now focus our efforts entirely on leveraging the strength of
our more than 100 media properties across the Chicago area, our
Sun-Times News Group," said Gordon A. Paris, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. "We feel confident that our Canadian portfolio
of publications will continue to be outstanding contributors to the
communities they serve and see ongoing success with their new
owner." In December 2005, Hollinger International sold to Glacier
its 70 percent interest in Great West Newspaper Group Ltd. and its
50 percent interest in Fundata Canada Inc. to Jamison Newspapers
Inc. and Glacier ("Glacier") for total consideration for total
consideration of approximately CDN$47.1 million, or approximately
US$40.5 million. Closing is subject to customary conditions,
including obtaining all required approvals under the Competition
Act (Canada), and is expected to occur prior to the end of
February, 2006. Hollinger International's financial adviser in the
sale of its Canadian portfolio of publications is Lazard. About
Hollinger International Hollinger International Inc.
(http://www.hollingerinternational.com/) is a newspaper publisher
whose assets include The Chicago Sun-Times and a large number of
community newspapers in the Chicago area as well as in Canada.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements Certain
statements made in this release are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 (the "Act"). Forward-looking statements include, without
limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or
imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain
the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "project,"
"will be," "will continue," "will likely result" or similar words
or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties
are detailed from time to time in reports filed by Hollinger
International with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including in its Forms 10 K and 10 Q. New risk factors emerge from
time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all
such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk
factors on the Company's business or the extent to which any
factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should
not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements as a
prediction of actual results. Contacts: Molly Morse / Jeremy
Fielding Kekst and Company 212-521-4826/4825 DATASOURCE: Hollinger
International Inc. CONTACT: Molly Morse, +1-212-521-4826, , or
Jeremy Fielding, +1-212-521-4825, , both of Kekst and Company, for
Hollinger International Inc. Web site:
http://www.hollingerinternational.com/
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