A major creditor of Canwest Global Communications will stand behind Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs as it fights the sale of Canwest's television assets.

Toronto-based private equity fund Catalyst Capital Group Inc. said it "strongly supports" Goldman Sachs' move to kill the sale of the broadcast TV channels to cable operator Shaw Communications Inc., a deal approved last month by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Catalyst, which holds a substantial amount of Canwest's bonds, spearheaded a separate bid last month for the Canwest broadcast assets with support from Goldman.

Catalyst's bid also had the support of Canwest's founding family, the Aspers, and two former executives from Rogers Communications, John Tory and Rael Merson.

Justice Sarah Pepall rejected Catalyst's attempt to delay a ruling on Shaw's offer, which is subject to several conditions, and said it could go ahead.

"Catalyst and Goldman Sachs remain committed to our proposal–and we're confident in both its fairness and its value," Catalyst said in a statement e-mailed to Canadian Press.

"Catalyst strongly supports Goldman Sachs as it exercises its rights–both as a matter of law and a matter of fairness."

Goldman planned to file documents in court that criticize the proposed sale of Canwest's TV properties to Shaw and the Ontario court's role.

In the strongly worded documents, Goldman criticizes Canwest's restructuring process as having been "corrupted" and said Canwest's directors and the bankruptcy court bowed to interests of bondholders, rather than the "best restructuring" plan for the insolvent company.

Canwest and the other parties involved will now have the opportunity to respond to the allegations in court.

"We stand by our actions and our governance process that are in place, and we'll respond to the allegations in court," said Canwest spokesman John Douglas.

He added that Canwest will have 25 days to respond, once the appeal is filed.

Last Thursday, Leonard Asper resigned as Canwest's president and CEO saying he intended to "pursue other business opportunities and avoid any conflict of interest" with the ongoing restructuring of Canwest.

The move set the stage for Asper to continue his involvement in Catalyst's bid for the Canwest broadcasting empire, without clashing with the current board of Canwest.