UPDATE 1-Regulator gives go-ahead to Shaw-Canwest deal

OTTAWA, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Shaw Communications Inc's C$2 billion ($1.9 billion) purchase of Canwest Global Communications Corp's broadcast arm will not substantially reduce or prevent competition in the sector, Canada's Competition Bureau said on Friday.

The government agency said it would not challenge the transaction because there was a lack of relevant competitive concerns from market participants and there were numerous alternative options for advertisers.

Shaw, a cable, Internet and telephone company, won court approval for the Canwest deal in June after amending the terms of the takeover. Calgary-based Shaw, which also owns broadcaster Corus Entertainment Inc, agreed to give C$11 million to Canwest shareholders, who had complained of being shut shut out of the deal.

The federal communications watchdog, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, has set a Sept. 20 hearing date for the deal.

The deal would give Shaw such Canwest TV assets as over-the-air broadcaster Global Television, as well as specialty channels including HGTV, Food Network, Showcase and History.

Canwest, which filed for bankruptcy in the face of a crippling debt load, has separately sold its newspaper business to a bondholder group for about C$1.1 billion.

($1=$1.04 Canadian)

(Reporting by Susan Taylor; editing by Rob Wilson) Keywords: CANWEST SHAW/ ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.