Wednesday 15 August 2007

Credit crunch?

Black Press Ltd. and part-owner Torstar have been rather quiet about Quebecor's winning $414 million bid for Osprey's 54 daily and weekly publications, which was completed Aug. 8.

But a Canadian Press story in the Toronto Star yesterday might explain why Black Press, with Torstar support, didn't up Quebecor's bid for a second time before time ran out.

The CP story says DBRS, a credit risk agency, said Tuesday it was placing the international commercial printing titan's "BB long-term debt and preferred share ratings under review with negative implications."

Interesting . . .

Could a credit crunch force the media conglomerate to sell off some of the Osprey properties, with Torstar waiting eagerly in the wings?

Or, dare we ask too much, would Quebecor consider selling the Toronto Sun or all of Sun Media to lighten the load?

We await the results of the DBRS credit review.

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