The new owners of Labatt Communications Inc. say their principal strategy is to keep the assets of the company together.

In mid-July, a consortium led by lci ceo Gordon Craig, and including Stephen R. Bronfman and Claridge Inc., Capital Communications cdpq (a subsidiary of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec) and espn, paid $605 million to Interbrew, the new owner of John Labatt Ltd., for lci.

Included in the lci kitty are tsn, Discovery Channel, rds, Dome Productions and The Rep Shoppe/ Medias Ventes.

‘Each one of these assets – whether it’s tsn, rds, Discovery or Dome Productions or some of the other broadcast support divisions we have – have all been start-ups (and) each relies in some fashion on part of the infrastructure of the other,’ says Craig. ‘Our goal is to keep the organization together the way it was built and the way it was crafted.’

tsn has been exchanging programming with espn since it was launched in 1984. Now that the major u.s. sports broadcaster is a partner with a 20% share in the company, Craig says in territories where espn has a hold – Europe, the Pacific Rim, Australia, South America – there may be opportunity for collaboration between the two sports networks.

The sale of lci is subject to crtc approval. If the deal is approved, lci places Bronfman as the likely candidate for the role of deputy chairman of the company.

Reports say other bidders such as Alliance Communications and CanWest Global Communications lost the battle for lci despite bids that were up to $1 million higher than the successful lci consortium’s. Other bidders in the game were Astral Communications and Baton Broadcasting.