Shaw Communications Acquires Mountain Cablevision

On October 30, 2009, Shaw Communications Inc. acquired Mountain Cablevision Limited of Hamilton, Ontario from the Boris family, who owned Mountain Cablevision for the past 50 years. The purchase price of approximately $300 million was paid by the issuance of $120 million in Class B Non-Voting Participating Shares of Shaw, with the balance paid in cash.

Shaw is a diversified communications company whose core business is providing broadband cable television, high-speed Internet, digital phone, telecommunications services and satellite direct-to-home services. The company serves 3.4 million customers through a reliable and extensive network, which comprises 625,000 kilometres of fibre. With the acquisition of Mountain Cablevision, Shaw acquired approximately 135 employees, 41,000 cable customers, 29,000 Internet subscribers and 30,000 digital phone lines, making Shaw the largest cable company in Canada.

Shaw was represented by an in-house team comprised of Peter Johnson, Vice President, Law, Troy Moller, Senior Legal Counsel and Paul Bachand, Assistant Corporate Secretary and Senior Legal Counsel, and by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC). The FMC team was led by William Jenkins (M&A) and included John Reynolds (M&A) and Barry Zalmanowitz, QC (competition).

The Boris family and Mountain Cablevision were represented by Hartley Nathan and Yosef Adler of Minden Gross LLP and Curtis Cusinato of Stikeman Elliott LLP.