Corus wins Teletoon takeover approval

Corus Entertainment has received final regulatory approval for its takeover of the Historia and Séries+ channels, plus Teletoon Canada, handing it ownership of Cartoon Network in the country.

Corus has received the green light from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for acquisitions announced earlier this year, with a total price tag of C$481m (US$452m).

The company, which last month took the decision with NBCUniversal to kill off their joint-venture international children’s net KidsCo, will now add Historia and Séries+ to its assets.

The French-language specialty channels were previously owned equally by Shaw Media and Astral Media.

From the latter, Corus also gets its hands on the 50% of Teletoon Canada it doesn’t already own, giving it 100% ownership of channels including all-animation net Teletoon, spin-off Teletoon Retro and Cartoon Network.

Corus president and CEO John Cassaday said of the news: “We are pleased with the CRTC’s decision and excited about the future growth opportunities these acquisitions represent.”