A group of bondholders fronted by the president and CEO of the National Post, Paul Godfrey, has bought the newspaper chain owned by Canwest Global Communications Corp.

Godfrey was a long-time Canwest director when the Asper family controlled the parent company before it went into bankruptcy protection. Godfrey is also a former CEO of Sun Media Corp., which he left in 2000 after it was taken over by Quebecor Inc.

The senior creditors concluded that the Godfrey group's bid of $1.1 billion, which included a $950-million cash component, was superior to that of Torstar, which owns the Toronto Star.

Victoria-based publisher David Black and former Canwest CEO Leonard Asper had also expressed an interest in purchasing the chain of newspapers.

Godfrey becomes the new CEO of the company, which has been called Canwest LP in the past.

It owns the Vancouver Sun, Province, Victoria Times-Colonist, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, and the Regina Leader-Post.

In addition, the company owns numerous community papers in Metro Vancouver, including the Vancouver Courier, North Shore News, Now newspapers, Richmond News, Delta Optimist, and Langley Advance.

Meanwhile on May 3, Shaw Communications Inc. announced a $2-billion deal to buy Canwest's broadcasting assets, which include the Global Television Network.