New owner for Brooks stations

Co-op vote in Sask.

Federal regulators have approved the sale of a major Canadian broadcast company with a radio presence in Brooks to satellite subscription broadcaster Stingray Digital.

That company announced in May an offer to pay $502 million for all outstanding shares in Newfoundland Capital Corporation, thereby acquiring 101 broadcasting licences in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and the Maritimes.

New Cap operates 29 radio stations in Alberta, including Real Country 105.7 FM and Boom 101.1 FM in Brooks, as well as a television outlet in Lloydminster.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the deal Tuesday. The deal is expected to close on Oct. 26.

Co-op members in southwest Saskatchewan are set to vote on another merger early next month.

A ballot on Nov. 1 will ask about the combination of the fuel and repair station in Hazlet with Pioneer Co-op.

The later serves much of the region, including the larger centres of Swift Current and Maple Creek. It has 23,000 members and nearly 600 employees in 34 communities.

In November 2017, members of the Shaunavon Co-op and Pioneer voted to merge, bringing the smaller entity’s locations in Eastend, Shaunavon and Bracken into the larger operation’s trading region. Similarly, Shaunavon’s members earned membership privileges at Pioneer locations, and vice versa.