Montréal, December 13, 2011 - Astral Media Inc. (TSX : ACM.A ACM.B) today announced the renewal of its normal course issuer bid.
Under the terms of the renewal, the Company intends to purchase for cancellation, through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange, or any other alternative trading systems, up to 2,630,137 Class A Shares and up to 137,708 Class B Shares. This represents no more than 5.0% of the 52,602,742 issued and outstanding Class A Shares as at November 30, 2011 and no more than 5.0% of the 2,754,172 issued and outstanding Class B Shares as at November 30, 2011. The shares will be purchased for cancellation in accordance with applicable regulations of the Toronto Stock Exchange over a maximum period of 12 months beginning on December 16, 2011 and ending on December 15, 2012.
For the six-month period ended November 30, 2011, the average daily trading volume for the Class A shares was 64,093 and the average daily trading volume for the Class B shares was 141. On a daily basis, the Company will not be entitled to purchase more than 16,023 Class A Shares and a maximum of 1,000 of its Class B Shares on the TSX.
The Company believes that the purchase of the Class A Shares and Class B Shares may be an economically worthwhile use by the Company of its funds and is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. Over the past 12 months, the Company has purchased a total of 2,128,100 Class A Shares and 2,000 Class B shares broken down as follows: (i) 164,000 of its Class A Shares at an average price of $41.99 and none of its Class B Shares from December 9, 2010 to December 14, 2010 under the previous normal course issuer bid which terminated on December 14, 2010; and (ii) 1,964,100 of its Class A Shares at an average price of $36,71 and 2,000 of its Class B Shares at an average price of $38.25 from December 16, 2010 to December 12, 2011 under the currently outstanding normal course issuer bid which terminates on December 15, 2011.
Founded in 1961, Astral is one of Canada's largest media companies. It operates several of the country's most popular pay and specialty television, radio, out-of-home advertising and digital media properties. Astral plays a central role in community life from coast to coast by offering diverse, rich and vibrant programming that meets the tastes and needs of consumers and advertisers. To learn more about Astral, visit astral.com.
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