Headlines

The Canadian media landscape is poised for a major shake-up that could result in greater competition as a result of moves by Shaw Communications Inc. and Torstar Corp. to buy the television and newspaper assets, respectively, of Canwest Global Communications Corp., Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. CanWest has been selling assets as part of its ongoing bankruptcy protection proceedings to pay off its creditors. As part of the deal for Canwest's television operations, Shaw has reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Chrysler expects to report its first substantial monthly sales increase in the U.S. in more than two years Monday, but CEO Sergio Marchionne is shifting attention to Fiat, where problems are deepening, the Detroit Free Press reported. The European half of this new alliance is facing change nearly as wrenching as Chrysler's government-backed bankruptcy. Car sales in Italy are expected to fall about 15% this year because the government stopped paying consumers to replace dilapidated old vehicles.

Calgary's overburdened hospitals have little space to soak up hundreds of extra surgeries should a private clinic at the heart of a legal dispute shut down, leaving patients staring down long wait times for orthopedic procedures, health experts contend, The Calgary Herald reported.

The government will resist attempts by any of the main players in the Irish insurance market to take over Quinn Insurance, on the grounds that such a deal would reduce market competition and result in further job losses at the company, the Sunday Business Post reported. The Quinn Group said last week it would sell the insurance business, which is in administration, in an effort to protect jobs. Both Quinn and the government are now favouring selling the business to a new entrant to the Irish insurance market.

Greece, effectively bankrupt and with a European gun to its head, committed itself to years of austerity on Sunday when it signed a financial bailout deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, The New York Times reported in an analysis. But there are serious questions about whether the deep cuts in salaries and benefits the agreement calls for are politically sustainable over time, even as deflation will make it impossible for Greece to grow its way out of debt.

Euro-zone countries and the International Monetary Fund, seeking to halt a widening European debt crisis that has threatened the stability of the euro, agreed to extend Greece an unprecedented €110 billion ($147 billion) rescue in return for draconian budget cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the three-year agreement announced here late Sunday, Greece would receive €80 billion in loans from other euro-zone members and €30 billion from the IMF. The planned rescue is the largest ever attempted by the IMF and a first for the 16-member euro zone.

Frankfurt-based aluminum company Almatis Group Friday put its operations in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure the company's $1 billion debt load, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In court papers filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Almatis said the proposed restructuring would slash its debt by more than $600 million to $414.6 million. The company has already filed a reorganization plan, which has the support of more than two-thirds of the holders of Almatis's first-lien debt.

Specialist door maker McTavish Ramsey, one of Dundee's oldest manufacturing firms, has gone into receivership with the loss of nearly three-quarters of its workforce, The Scotsman reported. Joint receivers Blair Nimmo and Neil Armour were called in after the firm failed to trade its way out of a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) set up at the beginning of March. It had been hoped that the 146-year-old business, which suffered poor trading through the winter, would stabilise its finances under the reduced debt repayment arrangements of the CVA.

A trustee yesterday moved against one of the country's largest property businesses, putting it into receivership. Finance company St Laurence, which owes 9000 investors $245 million, had proposed investors take a shareholding in the company as an alternative, The New Zealand Herald reported. But yesterday Perpetual Trust appointed Barry Jordan and David Vance of Deloitte as receivers. The St Laurence board this morning issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" that Perpetual Trust had appointed a receiver.

The Argentine government says it will offer $20 billion in new debt starting Monday in a long-awaited effort to resolve its default, BusinessWeek reported on an AP story. The debt swap comes as Greece struggles to avoid a default that could damage economies all across the European Union. After Greece, the two countries that bond market analysts consider to be most at risk of a default are Argentina and Venezuela.