Rogers and Shaw today announced an extension of their proposed $26 billion merger, along with the sale of Shaw-owned Freedom Mobile to Quebecor’s Vidéotron in a side deal that’s part of the broader transaction, to February 17, 2023.
“All parties remain committed to the pro-competitive transactions, which will deliver significant benefits to Canada and Canadian consumers,” Shaw said in a news release.
Rogers’ long-embattled takeover of Shaw has faced pushback from regulators and the Canadian public alike due to concerns it would harm consumer choice and increase prices. The Freedom sale was proposed as a remedy to antitrust concerns over a united Rogers-Shaw. Both deals previously carried a deadline of January 31.
Rogers and Shaw cleared what was arguably the largest hurdle to their marriage last week when the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the Competition Bureau’s appeal of a federal tribunal decision to greenlight the deal.
One expert in competition law said that the Bureau’s decisive loss calls for some “soul-searching” (via Financial Post). The appeals court rejected every one of the Bureau’s arguments, upholding the Competition Tribunal’s original ruling.
Now, the merger hopefuls only require Industry, Science and Technology Minister François-Philippe Champagne to approve the transfer of Freedom’s spectrum licences to Vidéotron in order to proceed with their combination.
Minister Champagne said last week that he “will render a decision in due course.” However, he has previously all but affirmed his approval of the Freedom-Vidéotron deal — provided Quebecor agrees to certain conditions.
Hedge funds that bet on the merger going through now stand to make more than $200 million if Rogers and Shaw successfully close the deal, which the companies now have until February 17 to do.
“The companies continue to work with ISED to secure the final approval needed to close the pro-competitive transactions,” said Shaw.
