CanWest Global Communications and partner Goldman Sachs will have to wait a while longer to see whether their $2.3-billion takeover of Alliance Atlantis Communications is approved.

CRTC hearings on the deal, which were to begin next week, have been delayed until Nov. 19 because the feds need more time to review the details of the transaction. In a release, the regulator says that late last week, CanWest filed 52 documents containing more than 300 pages with marked changes, which adds to its task.

‘Obviously, we’re disappointed. However, we understand and fully appreciate that this is a complex transaction that both the Commission and the interested public want to have an opportunity to review in its entirety,’ said CanWest president and CEO Leonard Asper in a statement.

For its part, CanWest indicated that the delay was as a result of the later closing date of the sale of AAC, which occurred on Aug. 15.