Newfoundland Capital to buy five radio stations from BCE

Newfoundland Capital Corp. has signed a deal to buy five radio stations in Toronto and Vancouver from Bell Media Inc. for $112-million, plus the assumption of certain liabilities.

Trading in Newfoundland Capital shares was halted Monday pending the announcement. When it resumed by mid-afternoon, the stock climbed 30 cents to $9.

The company said the stations include Boom 97.3 and 93.5 Flow in Toronto and Virgin Radio 95.3, Shore 104.3 and AM 650 in Vancouver.

The deal is subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Competition Bureau.

"The acquisition of these stations in Canada's two largest radio markets is a rare opportunity and is a transformational move for Newcap," president and chief executive Rob Steele said in a statement.

"This provides an excellent opportunity for us going forward – greatly expanding our listener base and increasing the size of our business."

The Newcap deal follows Bell's recent acquisition of Astral that required the company to sell certain radio stations to comply with CRTC's rules, which limits the number of stations a company can own in a single market.

Newfoundland Capital has 88 radio broadcast licences across Canada.