CanWest buys The Jerusalem Post

CanWest Global Communications Corp. on Thursday announced that its partner, Mirkaei Tikshoret Group Ltd. (MTL), has completed the acquisition of the shares of the Palestine Post Ltd. the publisher of The Jerusalem Post, The Jerusalem Report and related properties, from Hollinger International Inc. for $13.2 million, in cash.

The transaction received approval from the Israeli antitrust regulatory authorities on December 8. Under an arrangement announced in mid-November, the MTL and CanWest joint-venture partnership will own all the assets of the Post and related properties.

MTL is a major privately held media group based in Israel, with business interests that include newspapers, magazines, radio, out-of-home advertising and commercial printing.

Leonard Asper, president and chief executive officer of CanWest, said, "We are pleased that this acquisition is moving forward as planned and are excited about working with our new partners in Israel in building on a great global newspaper brand. One of our first priorities will be to bring CanWest MediaWorks' expertise to bear in improving the profile and circulation in North America of the Jerusalem Post."

Eli Azur, president and chief executive officer of the MTL Group, said, "This brings to close an important first step for this transaction.

We now can move forward quickly to work on further developing a great international newspaper, magazine and Web site."

(Description of Source: Jerusalem The Jerusalem Post in English -- Right-of-center, English-language, independent daily)