Competition watchdog doubles down on blocking Rogers-Shaw deal ahead of hearings
BNN Bloomberg
The regulatory fight over the $26-billion proposed merger between Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. is headed to public hearings after the Competition Bureau doubled down on its intention to block the deal during a case management conference today.
The Competition Bureau reiterated its position that the planned sale of Shaw-owned wireless carrier Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron Ltd. is not enough to eliminate its concerns that the merger would lead to worse services and higher prices for consumers.
Freedom competes with Rogers in large parts of Ontario and Western Canada, and its sale was widely seen as necessary to gaining approval for the Rogers-Shaw merger.
Rogers and Shaw said the Competition Bureau is "attacking a non-existent transaction," noting that Freedom would be sold to Videotron before the acquisition of Shaw occurs and that the original deal is no longer relevant.
