Shaw to Split Into Cable, Media Companies

Shaw Communications Inc., fresh from acquiring a string of broadcasting assets, said it will split into two publicly traded firms to allow it to expand both its cable and media divisions. The Canadian company said it will create a cable and Internet company with the same name and an as-yet unnamed media concern encompassing 23 radio and six television stations. “The reorganization evolved from our vision to create a strong, vertically integrated Canadian media company capable of competing against dominant global players,” President Jim Shaw said. The new Shaw cable company will have annual revenue of about $507 million in its first full year of operation and the media firm will generate about $173 million, the company said. Shaw shareholders will receive a chunk of the new Shaw, with both Class A and Class B holders receiving, on a tax-deferred basis, a proportionate share of the new firm’s shares in the appropriate class. Shaw’s Class B shares rose 81 cents to close at $17.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.