Decision expected Friday in $26B Rogers-Shaw merger
Posted March 30, 2023 9:55 pm.
It appears we are finally getting a decision from the federal government on the Rogers-Shaw merger.
Federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne is set to make an announcement Friday, and it could have big implications for Canada’s telecommunications sector.
Champagne has called a news conference for 8:30 a.m. ET – a half hour before markets open, and the advisory says it will be to discuss competitiveness in the telecommunication sector.
It comes just over a week after the minister said he was close to a decision on the $26-billion deal for Rogers Communications Inc. to take over Shaw Communications Inc.
Since the initial merger announcement, it’s actually become a three-way deal with Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron Ltd. acquiring Shaw’s Freedom Mobile last month.
The companies had pushed back their self-imposed deadline to March 31.
The deal has yet to close because it is still awaiting Champagne’s approval. He must sign off on the transfer of wireless spectrum licenses from Shaw to Videotron.
In October, the minister laid down two conditions, saying Videotron would have to agree to keep Freedom Mobile’s licenses for at least 10 years.
He also said he would expect to see wireless prices in Ontario and Western Canada lowered by about 20 per cent, putting them in line with Videotrons current Quebec offerings.
The deal cleared a key hurdle in January when the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a Competition Bureau request to overturn approval of the agreement by the Competition Tribunal.
The merger was first announced two years ago in March of 2021.
A year ago this month, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the deal, with conditions.
Rogers Communications is the parent company of this website.
