Corus sells Historia & Séries+ to Bell Media

Corus Entertainment is set to sell French-language channels Historia and Series+ to Bell Media for near C$200 million (US$160 million).

The sale is still pending approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Competition Bureau.

Corus will continue to own and operate the channels until the transaction is complete.

“In the 18 months since Corus acquired Shaw Media, we have demonstrated a resolute commitment to de-lever our balance sheet to 3.5 times net debt to segment profit by the end of fiscal 2017 and three times by the end of fiscal 2018,” said Doug Murphy, president and CEO at Corus (pictured).

“We have successfully accomplished the first step in our journey through the disciplined execution of our integration plan and ongoing advancement of our strategic priorities in fiscal 2017.

“As we reviewed our portfolio of assets this year, we determined that while Historia and Séries+ are excellent channels, they are not core to advancing Corus’ strategic priorities at this time. Furthermore, the increased financial flexibility this transaction provides will enable Corus to accelerate our transformation into an industry-leading integrated media and content company.”

Corus remains an active contributor to the Quebec broadcast and production community with Global Montreal, Télétoon and La chaîne Disney, as well as Toon Boom, its animation software company.