The Canadian Commissioner for Competition plans to oppose the takeover of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications Inc. for $ 26 billion at the Competition Tribunal, telecommunications companies said in a combined statement early Saturday morning.
Rodgers and Shaw said they plan to oppose an expected statement from Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell to block the proposed takeover, which will combine two of the country’s largest cable networks. The companies said they had been informed of the commissioner’s intention to submit the application on Friday afternoon, following the close of trading.
Telecommunications companies, as well as the Shaw Trust, have also agreed to extend the takeover from June 13 to July 31.
“Rodgers and Shaw remain committed to the deal, which is in the best interests of Canada and Canadians because of the significant long-term benefits it will bring to consumers, businesses and the economy. The companies offered to address concerns about the possible impact of the deal on Canada’s competitive wireless market by proposing the complete cessation of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile wireless business, the company said in a statement, adding that they are currently involved in the sale process. Freedom, the fourth largest wireless operator in Canada.
The Globe reported on Friday that bankers representing Toronto-based Rodgers have contacted Quebecor Inc. bankers to discuss the sale of Freedom, which has approximately two million wireless customers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, and to which attributed to the decline in mobile phone bills in recent years.
Although Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Carl Pelado said his interest in acquiring Freedom was known after the merger was first announced in March 2021, the company was absent from negotiations until recently.
Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a New York-based global private equity firm that owns rural internet provider Xplornet Communications Inc., and the Aquilini family, which owns the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, were among the candidates to negotiate with Rodgers to acquire Shaw’s Freedom Mobile , The Globe reported earlier.
Anthony Lacavera of Globalive Capital, who offered Rodgers $ 3.75 billion for Freedom Mobile, called on Ottawa to consider the sale process a “non-competitive scam.”
In a letter sent in March to Mr Boswell, Minister of Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne and the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Lacavera, President of Globalive and Founder of Freedom, accused Rogers of conducting a “closed and secret process of sales, which is unlikely to result in the wireless operator emerging as a strong fourth player.
In a press release released shortly after 12:00 a.m. Saturday, Rodgers and Shaw outlined the benefits of the deal, including a $ 2.5 billion investment to build 5G in Western Canada over the next five years and a $ 1 billion connectivity fund of rural, remote and indigenous communities.
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