The fate of Rogers Communications Inc. proposed takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. goes before the Federal Court of Appeal today as the Competition Bureau seeks to overturn the Competition Tribunal's approving the deal. Rogers and Shaw applications are pictured on a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, May 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected the Competition Bureau’s appeal on the Rogers-Shaw deal.
The Court of Appeal found the Competition Bureau’s arguments did not meet the high threshold needed to overturn the decision by the Competition Tribunal approving Rogers Communications Inc.’s takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.
The Competition Bureau’s arguments had focused on what they said were four key legal errors that focused especially on how the proposed sale of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Videotron factored into the tribunal’s decision.
The Court of Appeal said the tribunal made it clear that the deal would not substantially lessen competition and that the decision wouldn’t change even with the approach argued by the bureau.
The deal, which Rogers hopes to close by Jan. 31, still requires approval from Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
The Competition Tribunal approved the deal on Dec. 30 at the end of more than four weeks of hearings, while Rogers and Shaw first announced the deal in March of 2021.
Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B; SJR.B)
