Vancouver: Whether lawsuits are in the works and how the crtc will treat the arrangement are questions top of mind after the Griffiths family sold control of WIC Western International Communications to the Allard and Shaw Communications families in Alberta this month.

Non-voting Class b shareholders – most notably Izzy Asper of CanWest Global – are currently considering legal strategy to test whether the sale in fact triggers the infamous coattail provisions or whether – as devised – the deal does not trigger coattail because neither Shaw nor the Allards are taking more than 50% of the company.

In the long-awaited deal that earns the Griffiths an estimated $80 million to $90 million, the Allards’ Cathton Holdings of Edmonton and Shaw Communications of Calgary each acquire 49.96% of the voting shares and are exactly one share short of triggering the coattail provisions. CanWest owns 30% of the non-voting shares and 320 voting shares.

Smaller Class b shareholders are reportedly waiting to see what CanWest, as the largest equity owner, does.

The crtc is also expected to enter the fray when the application to seal the deal – one which will give Shaw unprecedented vertical integration in the distribution and broadcasting industry – is filed.

The deal closed March 13 with wic parent Western Broadcasting Company selling nearly 373,000 Class a shares and 1.3 million Class b shares to Shaw.