Canwest Global Communications Corp. announced the C$1.1 billion (US$1.06 billion) sale of its newspaper unit to a group led by Canadian media executive Paul Godfrey has been approved, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

According to a company statement, the deal, sanctioned by Ontario Superior Court Judge Sarah Pepall, will offer jobs for all of the publisher's full-time employees as well as "substantially all" of its part-time staff.

The group led by Godfrey, former chief executive officer of the National Post newspaper, won a court- monitored auction last week, beating lenders from Bank of Nova Scotia and from Torstar Corp. Another bid, from an unidentified group, was also denied, according to papers filed by FTI Consulting.

This approval marks the end of the auction process which started in January, when the newspaper operation filed for bankruptcy.

"I'm not going to say it's going to be seamless, but it's emerging with jobs intact, and businesses intact... This is a very good news day for the [newspaper unit]," said CanWest lawyer Lyndon Barnes in court Monday, The Global and Mail reported.