Potential buyers are lining up to place their bid for Canwest Global Communications Corp., the Canadian media company now floundering in creditor protection.
Canwest has been searching for the past few months for an investor willing to put up as much as $65 million needed to help restructure the company and lighten its crippling debt load.
Last week, the The Globe and Mail reports, Canwest's financial advisors narrowed the list down to four contenders: Corus Entertainment Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and Jim Pattison Group.
BNN's Mark Bunting told CTV's Canada AM that all the potential bidders are poring over Canwest's books to determine whether a deal is financially viable.
The prized assets, he said, are the History Channel and Showcase -- cable specialty channels owned by CanWest.
But a lot of work will have to be done before a deal is finalized, Bunting said.
"One lawyer says any group must deal with Canwest bondholders, which have a lot of sway, Goldman Sachs which is a partner in the cable channels, and then if they do get a deal they have to get regulatory approval from the CRTC and that is not an easy task, according to this lawyer."
Canwest's newspaper division is part of a different grouping and is being sold seperately. Both Quebecor and Torstar are believed to be interested in that portion of the business, Bunting said.
