The Competition Bureau faces an “uphill battle” in an attempt to overturn the Competition Court’s decision to dismiss the case against Rogers The $26 billion acquisition of Communications Inc. Shawn Communications Inc., an analyst said on Tuesday.
RBC analyst Drew McReynolds said that while the federal competition regulator has secured a temporary, urgent right from the Federal Court of Appeals to block the deal, there are still many roads ahead to close it. .
“While the closing date of the agreement continues to be somewhat uncertain, we believe that each of the three companies remains committed to the transactions and there is a high probability that the transactions will close. .”
Rogers-Shaw deals with limbo again as competition watchdog gets temporary stay
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Possible avenues for closure include denial of a Federal Court appeal against the office, refusal to suspend the agreement before the appeal is heard, and a possible expedited appeals process. decided by mid-2023.
McReynolds said that while he believes the deal will be approved, potential avenues to derail it include having the office win the case in the Federal Court of Appeals, or in the event of a loss, the office will prolonged delay due to taking leave to appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada. It is also possible that the Canadian Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development will reject it.
In pushing for the appeal, the Competition Bureau said the court made a mistake in how it assessed the deal and the proposal would see Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. acquired Shaw’s Freedom Mobile business.
In seeking its appeal, the regulator said the court made fundamental errors of law.
In ruling last week, the court said the merger was unlikely to result in higher prices for wireless customers and that it was satisfied with the plan to sell Freedom Mobile was enough to ensure competition did not drop significantly.
The office said the temporary suspension of the court decision will be held until the regulator’s application for the stay and restraining order can be heard, a date yet to be set.
Rogers and Shaw released a joint statement on Friday expressing their deep disappointment at the office’s efforts to block the deal but they remained committed to it.
The office has argued that merging the two telecommunications companies would reduce competition, trigger higher prices and lead to worsening service.
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