Canadas Competition Tribunal cleared the way for the Rogers-Shaw merger to be moved ahead, after dismissing the Competition Bureaus application to block the proposed $26 billion acquisition.
The deal is still not negotiated yet by the International Society of Science, Development and Development, Inc. (ISED) and a spokesperson for Mini. Francois-Philippe Champagne told The Globe and Mail that ISED is reviewing the tribunal’s decision and will have more to say in the coming days.
The Competition Tribunal released a summary of its decision on December 29th and plans on releasing a more detailed decision in the next two days. The summary notes that the tribunal found that the merger would not result in majorly higher prices.
Moreover, the decision said the sale of Shaws Freedom Mobile to Québecor-owned Videotron a key pillar of the deal would likely not stop or lessen competition substantially. Québecor agreed this summer to purchase Freedom for $2.85 billion.
The tribunal dismissed the possibility that Bell and Telus wouldn’t be able to compete with the combined Rogers and Shaw.
I’m very disappointed by the fact that the tribunal rejected our request for block a merger between Rogers and Shaw. We’re planning on taking up our next steps carefully, says Matthew Boswell, commissioner of the Federal Competition Bureau, on the 29th of July. The Competition Bureau has 30 days to appeal the judgment of the Tribunal.
Moreover, The Globe and Mail reported that Rogers and Shaw agreed to extend the deadline for the proposed merger into 2023. This extension requires that Rogers pay its bondholders $250 million.
The Globe and Mail, the CBC News, etc.