TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s Competition Bureau has approved BCE Inc’s plan to acquire Astral Media Inc for C$3 billion ($2.9 billion), but the Bell parent’s offer to buy the media company must still pass muster with the telecommunications regulator.

The competition watchdog said on Monday its approval carried the condition that BCE, a growing broadcaster, must sell some of Astral’s pay and specialty television channels, including several Disney channels.

TORONTO, March 4 (Reuters) – Canada’s Competition Bureau has
approved BCE Inc’s plan to acquire Astral Media Inc
for C$3 billion ($2.9 billion), but the Bell parent’s
offer to buy the media company must still pass muster with the
telecommunications regulator.

The competition watchdog said on Monday its approval carried
the condition that BCE, a growing broadcaster, must sell some of
Astral’s pay and specialty television channels, including
several Disney channels.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s Competition Bureau has approved BCE Inc’s plan to acquire Astral Media Inc for C$3 billion ($2.9 billion), but the Bell parent’s offer to buy the media company must still pass muster with the telecommunications regulator.

The competition watchdog said on Monday its approval carried the condition that BCE, a growing broadcaster, must sell some of Astral’s pay and specialty television channels, including several Disney channels.

TORONTO, March 1 (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar pared early
losses and traded stronger on Friday after domestic economic
growth data for December and the fourth quarter came out in line
with forecasts.

The Canadian economy chalked up another quarter of weak
growth at the end of 2012, and shrank 0.2 percent in December
for its first monthly decline since February 2012.

TORONTO, March 1 (Reuters) – The pace of Canadian
manufacturing activity picked up modestly in February, notching
the strongest expansion in five months, according to data
released on Friday, though growth was still slower than the
historical norm.

The RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index
was at 51.7 last month after adjusting for seasonal variation,
rising from a weak 50.5 in January. A reading above 50
represents expansion.

TORONTO, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Commercial borrowing by small
and medium-sized businesses in Canada hit its highest level
since 2008 in the last three months of 2012, and a much smaller
percentage of the businesses were behind on their payments,
according to a PayNet survey released on Thursday.

PayNet, which tracks commercial financing for millions of
North American small and medium-sized businesses, said its
Canadian Business Lending Index was up 6 percent in the fourth
quarter from the third quarter and up 23 percent year-over-year.

TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Canadian securities regulators
want to change the rules on takeover defenses to make it more
difficult for hostile bidders to buy Canadian companies, aiming
to set up a national framework for dealing with corporate
raiders, according to regulatory officials and lawyers briefed
on the matter.

The plan, due to be published in draft form on March 14, is
designed to bring more coherence to Canada’s regulatory regime
after provincial regulators have issued contrasting rulings on
so-called “poison pill” defenses in recent takeover bids, the
sources said.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Telus Corp (T.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), one of Canada’s three biggest telecom companies, reported a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit on Friday, helped by strength in its wireless business and a surprising burst of growth from its fixed-line unit.

Telus shares rose to their highest-ever level on Friday as the Vancouver company also gave a robust outlook for the current year.